What Are You Afraid Of?
by Knope.We.Can
Summary: After a three-week sabbatical, Beca has finally returned to her job as a paramedic, but is she really ready to go back to work? Her first patient of the day is a gorgeous redhead named Chloe. Has she finally found someone to confide in? Multi-chapter Bechloe AU. Rated T for language.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: What's up aca-ballers! So my plan was to take a fairly sizeable break from writing fanfiction and try and work on some other things. Of course, this didn't happen because today at work I got the idea for a new fic and it wouldn't go away until I'd written the first chapter. So, here it is! I hope you enjoy it :)**

**I do not own Pitch Perfect or any of its characters.**

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><p><em><strong>"You will stay, won't you?" The little girl asked from her seat in the car.<strong>_

_**"Of course I will," Beca replied. She was becoming increasingly aware of a beeping noise. It was getting louder. More insistant.**_

_**"What is that?" The girl asked. Beca shook her head.**_

_**It got louder.**_

_**"It's probably time for you to wake up," the girl said with a sigh.**_

_**"No, it's okay," Beca said. "I said I'd stay."**_

_**"But you can't," she said, sadly.**_

_**The beeping got louder. Then it stopped. There were two seconds of deafening silence before an explosion ripped through the car.**_

Beca sat bolt upright in her bed, breathing heavily.

"Shit," she said, hitting the alarm clock so it would stop beeping. It was 5:30am and Beca was due back at work today. She rolled out of bed and headed for the bathroom. She tried to avoid looking at herself in the mirror as she stripped down and climbed into the shower. She closed her eyes as the hot water washed over her. The tightness in her chest she had had for the past three weeks seemed to ease as she breathed in the steam that rose around her.

Three weeks.

It had been three whole weeks since she'd been able to go back to work as a paramedic. They had made her take time off after she had a pretty serious panic attack the day after she attended the scene of a multiple car pile-up on the highway. Three weeks later, she was finally allowed to return to work. They wanted her to take longer but she wouldn't. Three weeks of wallowing at home was enough for her.

She turned off the shower and stepped out, finally taking in the sight of her body. The bruises on her back and legs were now a fading yellow colour, and the burn on her thigh was practically healed. She was lucky, really. It could have been worse. It could all have been a lot worse.

She pulled on her overalls and her sturdy boots and was heading out of the house by 6:30am.

"Well, well," her friend Jesse said as she walked into the ambulance station. "Welcome back, Beca."

"Thanks," Beca said as he gave her a heavy-handed pat on the back. She clipped her radio to her belt and took a seat by Jesse.

"Good to see you Mitchell," her boss, Gail Abernathy-McKadden, said.

"Thanks boss," she said, trying her best to smile. The gnawing feeling in her chest had started up again.

"How do you feel?" Gail asked.

"Great," Beca said brightly.

"If you need more time-"

"I'm fine, honestly Gail. Don't worry about me," Beca said. The radio crackled and Jesse responded.

"Let's go Mitchell," he said, nudging her. Without another word, the two stood and climbed into the ambulance. Jesse got into the driver's seat. "So, glad to be back?" Jesse asked as they pulled away.

"Ah ha," Beca said, her head resting on the window.

"Is everything-"

"Everything's fine, Jess," she said. "I'm fine."

"Good. That's great," he said, stealing glances at her. "I mean, no one thinks you're, you know, soft or anything for wanting time off."

"I didn't _want_ time off, I was _made _to have time off," she said, exasperated.

"I know, I know," he said. They were quiet for a few minutes.

"Soft?" Beca asked, breaking the silence.

"Yeah, like, because of the panic attack. I mean, it's understandable. After what happened..." He trailed off when Beca glared at him.

"Are we done with this conversation?" Beca asked.

"Sure," he said. "This is us." He pulled the ambulance over and the two made their way over to the two women on the grass. One of them, a blonde, was frantically waving them over. The other, a redhead, was sitting down and looked frankly fed up by the whole situation.

"Morning," Beca said, crouching by the redhead as Jesse tried to deal with the blonde.

"Morning," the redhead replied. She had a small cut on her forehead that had bled considerably, but seemed to have stopped. Beca opened up her pack and pulled out an antiseptic wipe.

"I'm Beca. What's your name?" Beca asked, keeping her voice low and quiet.

"Chloe," the redhead said. "Look, this really isn't necessary. My friend there just overreacted."

"Well, Chloe, why don't you tell me what happened?" Beca began cleaning the cut before securing a small bandage to it.

"It's really embarrassing," Chloe said. Beca smirked and Chloe felt her heart do some kind of flip.

"I'm sure I'll have heard worse," Beca said.

"I was texting and I walked into a post," she said. Beca couldn't stop the burst of laughter that escaped her. "See!" Chloe said, blushing and rolling her eyes.

"I'm sorry," Beca said. "That wasn't very professional." Beca was still trying to repress her laughter which only made Chloe laugh. Beca cleared her throat and tried to regain her composure. "Did you throw up or lose consciousness at all?" She asked when the giggles finally left.

"No," Chloe replied. "Nothing like that." Beca noticed a puddle of vomit on the sidewalk. Beca raised her eyebrows at the redhead. "That wasn't from me," Chloe said with a sigh. "Aubrey, my friend, she's a bit of a stress puker."

"A what?" Beca asked, eyebrows furrowed.

"She throws up when she's stressed," Chloe said, smirking again.

"Chloe!" Aubrey said, embarrased as she tried to continue her conversation with Jesse.

"Oh, I've seen that look before," Chloe said. "Your friend there doesn't have a girlfriend, does he?"

"No," Beca said, looking at the pair. "Ah, I've also seen that look before." She went into her pack again and pulled out a small torch. She shone it into the redhead's eyes. "Wow," she said softly.

"Wow, what?" Chloe asked. Beca blushed immediately. She hadn't meant to say that out loud.

"You, er, you have nice eyes," Beca muttered, putting the torch back in her bag. "Well, um, you seem fine. If you start getting headaches, dizziness or nausea, or if that starts bleeding again, then you should go to the E.R. But you're free to go for now."

"Thank you," Chloe said, smiling at the flustered expression on the brunette's face. "Do you have a phone?"

"Uh, yeah?" Beca asked, confused. She took it from her pocket and gave it to Chloe who began typing something in before she handed it back.

"It was nice to meet you Beca," Chloe said, standing up.

"You too," Beca replied as the redhead left. She checked her phone and saw that Chloe had added her number. She also seemed to have text herself from Beca's phone, in order to get her number. A second later, it buzzed in her hand.

**Chloe: Hope you don't mind but I stole your number ;) x**

Beca grinned as she walked back to the ambulance with Jesse.

**Beca: I hope you aren't walking as you text. Don't you know you can get hurt?**

**Chloe: Har har har. Anyway, for the record, you have nice eyes too. Fancy going for a drink tonight? x**

Beca stared wide-eyed at the text.

"Who are you texting?" Jesse asked, glancing at her suspicously.

"Chloe," she replied, still staring at her phone.

"Jesus, you work quick," he said, shaking his head. A voice crackled over the radio and he switched on the sirens.

**Beca: Sure, I'll text you when I get off work?**

**Chloe: Awesome! This will be great. I can tell we're going to be really fast friends :) xx**

_Oh_, Beca thought. _Friends_.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Whaddup awesome nerds! Thank you everyone who has so far followed/favourited/reviewed. It's been such an amazing response so far, considering I've only posted one chapter :)**

**Just a heads up, I know pretty much nothing about the American health care system, or about how paramedics work in the US. All I know is what I've picked up from watching Scrubs and UK medical dramas (Holby City, Casualty etc) so I don't know how accurate I'll be with medical procedure/terminology etc. Anyway, if we could all suspend our disbelief, we'll have a lot more fun :P**

**I do not own Pitch Perfect or any of its characters.**

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><p>"Stop smiling, will you?" Jesse said as they drove to their next job. "It's unsettling."<p>

"Did you get that blonde's number?" Beca asked, still grinning.

"Aubrey? Maybe," he said, grinning now. They pulled up outside a run down apartment building.

"So, what's the story here?" Beca asked, looking up.

"Kid couldn't wake his dad up, so called for an ambulance," Jesse said, shouldering his pack.

"What floor?" Beca asked, picking up her own and shutting the ambulance doors.

"Twelfth," he said with a sigh. "And no elevator."

"Shitting hell," Beca muttered. After a solid five minutes of climbing stairs, they arrived at the door. Pain was radiating through Beca's leg but she tried not to let it show. Jesse banged on the door.

"Ambulance," he said. A few seconds later and the door opened, revealing a small boy. His clothes were dirty and his eyes were wide and full of tears. He gestured for them to follow him through the apartment. The place was flithy, full of takeout boxes, empty bottles and garbage bags. They followed the little boy into the living room where a man was lying on the sofa, empty bottles surrounding him. "Is this your dad?" Jesse asked him. He nodded. "What's his name?"

"Jason," the little boy said, still tearful. "Is he dead?" _No_ Beca thought, _he's wasted._

"No," Beca said. "He'll be fine." She took his hand and lead him out of the living room and into what she assumed was his room. "What's your name, buddy?" She asked.

"Simon," he said. "Am I in trouble?"

"No," Beca replied. "Why would you be in trouble?"

"Daddy told me not to call 911 anymore. But he wasn't waking up and I got scared," Simon said, rubbing the tears from his eyes with his dirty hands.

"You did the right thing, Simon," Beca said. Beca heard grumbling and shouting coming from the living room. "Where's your mom?" Simon shrugged.

"I've not seen her for a long time," he said, sniffling.

"Ah," Beca said, gently pushing the hair back from his eyes.

"Daddy's gonna be so mad," Simon said, tugging the edge of his jumper nervously.

"I'm sure he won't," Beca said.

"Simon!" A voice came from the living room and Simon squeaked before running into the room. Beca followed him.

"Are you okay daddy?" Simon asked, standing close to Beca.

"I told you not to call for ambulances anymore," he said, exasperated.

"He was scared," Beca said. "Leave him alone."

"Listen, sweetheart," he said, getting unsteadily to his feet, "stay out of this, okay? This is between me and my son." Beca pushed Simon so he was standing behind her.

"I think you should sit back down, sir," Beca said, calmly.

"I think you should shut the fuck up," he said, before taking a drunken swing at her. He missed by a long shot and ended up falling over, a glass bottle smashing beneath him. Beca's expression hadn't changed but inside it felt like someone was squeezing her heart.

"Come on, man, we'll have to take you in to get stitches," Jesse said, with a sigh.

"I ain't got insurance," the man said, pulling the glass from his hand without even wincing. "Simon knows what to do, don't you?" Simon nodded eagerly and rushed off into the kitchen. Simon came back into the living room with a cloth. The man held his hand out and Simon wrapped the cloth around it and pulled it tight. "Good boy," he said, ruffling Simon's hair affectionately. "You two can fuck off now," he said.

"Come on, Beca," Jesse said, tugging at her arm. She didn't move. "Beca." Reluctantly, she followed him out of the apartment.

"I'm calling Child Protective Services when we get back," Beca said, angrily storming down the stairs. She threw her pack into the back of the ambulance before slamming the door.

"Beca," Jesse said as she threw a kick at a nearby can. "Is it such a good idea to get involved?" Beca shot him a look. "Never mind."

"No kid should have to live in those conditions," Beca said climbing back into the van.

"No," Jesse said. "But you can't save everyone, you know?"

"I'm well aware of that," Beca said, her teeth clenched. Jesse sighed.

"Sorry," he said. "I didn't mean-"

"It doesn't matter," she said, the pain in her chest was back and breathing was becoming frustrating. No matter how deep a breath she took, it felt like she wasn't getting nearly enough air. It was like someone was sitting on her chest. She hated it. It made her feel constantly nervous and anxious.

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><p>After a twelve-hour shift, Jesse dropped Beca off at the hospital so she could call CPS. She walked through the E.R. waiting room, in order to use the phone at reception.<p>

"Beca?" A voice said. She spun around and saw Chloe and Aubrey sitting in the waiting room.

"Hey," Beca said, smiling and walking over to them. "Injured again? If you wanted to see me this bad, you should have just called." Chloe rolled her eyes.

"She threw up, so I dragged her here," Aubrey said. Beca's expression turned from amusement to concern.

"I'm fine," Chloe insisted. Beca chewed her bottom lip, thinking. She spotted her friend Stacie, making her way through to cubicles.

"Stace!" Beca called, waving her over.

"Try and be at least a little bit professional, Beca," Stacie said, rolling her eyes as she walked over to them.

"Sorry, Dr. Conrad," Beca said, smirking.

"That's better," Stacie said, smiling herself now. "I didn't know you were back at work today," the tall brunette said. "How's the leg?"

"Fine," Beca said. "Can you take a look at my friend here? I treated her for a head injury this morning but she thew up..." Beca looked to Aubrey to fill in the gap.

"Two hours ago," Aubrey said.

"I'm totally swamped Beca," Stacie said.

"Pleeeeeeeease?" Beca said, giving her best puppy dog eyes.

"Urgh, fine," Stacie said. "Come through here," she said to Chloe and Aubrey, leading them through to a cubicle. She stopped off at reception to get her chart.

"You're the best," Beca said, grinning. "Be back in a minute." She left to go and make the call to CPS. Once that was done she found the cubicle where the three girls were.

"So, back to work already, huh?" Stacie asked when Beca slipped through the curtain.

"Uh, yeah," Beca said, nervously rubbing the back of her neck.

"I thought they said five weeks?" She said, ignoring Beca's clear discomfort.

"They recommended five weeks. They said a minimum of three," Beca replied.

"And you're sure I can't take a look at your leg?"

"It's fine, Stacie," Beca said, gritting her teeth. She tried to avoid Chloe's electric blue eyes that were boring into her.

"Okay, okay," Stacie said, "don't bite my head off. Everything seems fine here," she added to Chloe. She turned to Aubrey. "Keep an eye on her for the next 24 hours. Bring her back in if anything changes."

"I'm right here," Chloe said, annoyed. "Looks like we'll have to postpone our drink," she said to Beca.

"That's okay," Beca said, smiling. "You just look after yourself." She left the cubicle, quickly followed by Stacie.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Stacie asked her, a mischievous grin on her face. "You were going for a drink with her? Are you actually finally considering dating?"

"It isn't a date," Beca said, rolling her eyes. "I don't even know if she's into girls."

"Come on, I saw the way she looked at you," Stacie said. Beca grinned slightly. "You like her!"

"Jesus, keep it down, will you?" Beca said, glancing around her.

"Oh chill out," Stacie said, nudging her. "Now, seriously, how are you?"

"God, Stace, not here," Beca said, groaning.

"Where then?"

"How does the 49th of Maytember sound to you?" Beca said, sarcastically.

"Ha, ha," Stacie replied. "I'm just making sure you're okay."

"Of course I'm okay," Beca said. "I wish people would stop asking."

"We just care, Becs," Stacie said. "I gotta go. See you." Beca waved her off before heading home.

She stripped off her uniform and pulled on a baggy t-shirt as soon as she got into her bedroom. She crawled under the blankets, and was almost asleep in seconds. Her phone lit up beside her, blinding her in the darkness. She picked it up.

**Chloe: Shame we had to cancel our drink tonight. I was really looking forward to it.**

**Beca: Likewise. We'll have to reschedule.**

**Chloe: How does now sound? ;)**

**Beca: You have a head injury so... not great :P**

**Chloe: We can have an alcohol free drink? At my apartment?**

The tightness in Beca's chest was back, this time accompanied by a fluttering in her stomach.

**Beca: You don't beat around the bush, do you? Maybe we should wait until you're a little less concussed.**

**Chloe: Spoil sport :P**

The tightness eased slightly.

**Chloe: Goodnight Beca x**

**Beca: Goodnight x**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hey buddies! Here's the latest chapter for you :) Thank you to all the readers/reviewers/favouriters/followers. You guys are really special :)**

**Just a heads up, I'm going away tomorrow for five days visiting my friend so there will be no updates from now until Saturday probably. (Sorry :( )**

**I do not own Pitch Perfect or any of its characters**

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><p>"Why are you all dressed up?" Aubrey asked, glancing up from her book when Chloe entered their living room.<p>

"Got a date," Chloe said, grinning as she checked her appearance in the mirror.

"With that paramedic?" Aubrey asked.

"Yep," Chloe said.

"Well, have fun," Aubrey said, returning to her book.

"When are you meeting up with Jesse?" Chloe asked, turning away from the mirror. She smirked as she watched Aubrey's cheeks turn pink.

"In a few days," Aubrey said, grinning slightly, still reading.

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><p>Beca stared at herself in the mirror, smoothing out her shirt with slightly shaking hands.<p>

"Get it together, Mitchell," she muttered. She fixed her make-up and took a deep breath before leaving her apartment and walking to the bar where she was supposed to be meeting Chloe.

The redhead was already inside, sitting at a table by the window. There were two drinks on the table in front of her. Chloe's face lit up as she saw Beca walk into the bar. She waved the small brunette over.

"Hi!" She said when Beca took the seat opposite her.

"Hi," Beca replied. Chloe pushed the drink towards her. "Thank you," she said, taking a swig. "How's the head?" Beca gestured to the small cut.

"Fine," Chloe said.

"No headaches or vomiting or-"

"Nope," Chloe said, rolling her eyes but still smiling. "Are you always in doctor mode?"

"I'm not a doctor," Beca pointed out," but yes, I suppose so."

"It's cool," Chloe said. "You have the coolest job."

"I highly doubt that," Beca said. "What do you do?"

"I'm a student counsellor at Barden University," Chloe said.

"Oh, no way, my dad teaches comparative literature there," Beca said, taking another drink.

"Your dad is Dr. Mitchell?"

"That's him," Beca said.

"Small world," Chloe said.

"You know him?" Beca asked, wondering when the last time she saw her dad was. Months, probably. He didn't even know what had happened to her.

"I've seen him around," Chloe said. She could almost hear the cogs whirring in Beca's head.

"So, counsellor? You aren't going to psycho-analyse me, are you?" Beca said, smirking.

"That all depends," Chloe said. "Do you need psycho-analysing?"

"Well, no. But I would say that, wouldn't I?" Beca replied. Chloe smiled, swirling her straw around in her drink.

"How come that doctor was so surprised you were at work yesterday?" Chloe asked. Beca swallowed.

"I... There was an incident," Beca said, her hand moving up to gently tug at her hair. "They asked... They told me to take some time off." Chloe looked at her for a few seconds.

"Wanna talk about it?" Chloe said, resisting the urge to reach across the table and take her hand.

"It's not great first date material," Beca said, smiling again.

"First date?" Chloe said, smirking again. Beca blushed.

"Uh..." Beca said, at a total loss of what to say.

"Relax," Chloe said, nudging Beca's leg with her foot. "This is totally a date." Beca smiled again. "So how long have you been a paramedic?"

"Uh," Beca thought, "four years? I started when I was 22. I was at med school if you can believe it. But it was just too much and I just wasn't smart enough. One of my professors recommended I train to be a paramedic instead, so I did."

"I'm sure you were smart enough," Chloe said, lightly brushing her finger-tips along Beca's.

"Nah," Beca said, with a laugh. "How long have you been a counsellor for?"

"Five years," Chloe said. "I started there straight after I graduated."

"You enjoy it?" Beca asked, finishing her drink.

"I love it," Chloe said. "Another drink?"

"I'll get them," Beca said. "Same again?" Chloe nodded. Beca went to the bar to order their drinks.

After a few more hours of drinking and bonding, the two left the bar. Chloe slipped her hand into Beca's and the brunette grinned. They reached Chloe's apartment.

"Tonight was fun," Beca said as they stood at the doorway.

"It was," Chloe said, biting her lip slightly as she brushed her thumb against the back of Beca's hand. "Do you want to come in for coffee?"

"Uh huh," Beca said, swallowing. Chloe slowly closed the gap between them, brushing her lips against Beca's.

"Awesome," she whispered. Chloe opened the door, her hand still linked with Beca's, and she pulled her inside. As soon as the door closed, Chloe kissed her again. This time there was a heat behind it. They ended up on the sofa, Chloe on top of Beca, the redhead's hand closing around the top of her leg. Beca winced slightly, breaking the kiss. "Are you okay?" Chloe asked, sitting up slightly.

"Yeah," Beca said, kissing her again. The tightness in her chest was back as she felt the burning in her leg. She pulled away from the kiss again, her eyes closed, her breathing slightly erratic.

"Beca," Chloe said, brushing the hair from Beca's face. She moved off the smaller girl, allowing her to sit up. "It's okay," Chloe soothed. "Just take deep breaths."

"Sorry," Beca said, resting her head in her hands once she'd calmed down. "I should go." She tried to stand but Chloe pulled her back down. "This is really embarrassing."

"Beca, I split my head open because I walked into a pole while texting. _That_ was embarrassing," Chloe said. Beca smiled reluctantly. "Has this happened before?" Beca nodded.

"That incident I mentioned? I had a panic attack the day after at work. I just... froze up. We nearly lost a patient because of it," Beca said. She gathered her hair up in her hands and began twisting strands of it around her fingers.

"Is that how you hurt your leg?" Chloe asked. Beca nodded again. "Talk to me."

"I don't want to let all my crazy out on the first date," Beca said. Chloe laughed lightly and butterflies erupted in Beca's stomach.

"I deal with people's crazy on a daily basis," Chloe said. "Let me help you." Beca thought for a minute. Under any other circumstances, Beca would have been out of the door the second she felt the tightness in her chest. There was no way she would ever consider talking to anyone about what had happened. But Chloe didn't seem to be just anyone. There was something about her. Something about her smile, the way she laughed, the sparkle in her eyes, that made Beca feel like she could open up to her. Like she should open up.

"Did you hear about that pile-up that happened just outside of Barden?" Beca said eventually. Chloe nodded. "I was one of the paramedics there. Me and Jesse. It was... I dunno, like nothing I'd ever seen. No amount of training prepares you for that. We helped everyone we could and then we got to this car. It had a little girl trapped in the back. Maisy. Both her parents were dead in the front. She was understandably freaking out so I climbed in next to her. Treated her injuries as best I could and then just stayed. The firemen arrived and were cutting people out of a car behind us. I left Masiy for a second to help Jesse and..." Beca rested her head on her balled up fists, squeezing her eyes shut at the memory. Chloe squeezed her knee lightly, encouraging her to continue. "A spark from one of the fireman's tools hit this trail of gasoline. I tried to get back to the car to get her out... The whole thing went up. I got some bruising on my back and some burns on my leg but other than that I was fine. That kid... She was only seven."

"I'm so sorry Beca," Chloe said, sweeping the tears from Beca's cheeks. "But it wasn't your fault."

"I should have gotten her out," Beca said.

"But you couldn't have," Chloe said. "You aren't superman." Beca laughed, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Have I ruined this?" She asked.

"Ruined what?" Chloe asked, confused.

"This. Us," she said. "I dunno, I just feel like this probably wasn't the first date you had in mind. It wasn't the first date I had in mind, either."

"I like you Beca," Chloe said. "And I'm so glad you just confided in me. You haven't ruined anything."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hello everyone, I am back from my travels with a new chapter for you :) Sorry it's been so long, I hope you enjoy it!  
><strong>

**I do not own Pitch Perfect or any of its characters**

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><p><em><strong>"Goddamit Beca! Fucking do something, will you?!" Jesse shouted. Beca hardly heard him. It was like she was underwater. Drowning. Each time she tried to breath in her chest got tighter. "Beca! He's bleeding out, do something!" She stared straight ahead of her. Unmoving. She was shoved roughly to the side by Jesse who took over from her. He was muttering swear words under his breath but she was still drowning and couldn't hear him. She remembered thinking she could smell smoke as darkness began creeping to the edge of her vision.<strong>_

"Mitchell." Beca jolted awake at the sound of Gail's voice. "You've got a job," she said. Beca stood and stretched before climbing into the ambulance with Jesse. She hated doing the nightshift anyway, but now she was missing out on Chloe time she really hated it. There was a permanent scowl fixed to her face as Jesse drove them to the emergency. It had been three weeks since her first date with Chloe, and things were going amazing. The redhead had managed to work her way into Beca's heart with a surprising amount of ease. All of Beca's defences melted away whenever she saw her, and the constant tightness of her chest seemed to ease up.

"You've got that look on your face again," Jesse said, glancing from the road to face her.

"What look?" She said, the scowl returning.

"That love-sick-puppy look," Jesse said, pulling a face. Beca rolled her eyes.

"I am not love-sick," she said.

"Uh huh, I believe you," he said, smirking. "Are you both still coming out with me and Aubrey tomorrow night?"

"I think so," Beca said, her head resting on the window as she day-dreamed about what the redhead might be doing at this moment. Probably sleeping, her red hair splayed out over the pillow, her arms stretched out, brushing against the sheets where Beca should be lying.

Half an hour before the end of her shift, Beca's phone buzzed in her pocket.

**Chloe: Come to mine once you're shift's over xx**

Beca smiled as she tapped out her reply.

**Beca: Are you sure? It's like, 6am. xx**

**Chloe: I'm very sure. I know you, you won't sleep if you're left to your own devices. Besides, now I'm awake, I can't sleep without you, so get your butt here xx**

**Beca: Getting bossy, are we? xx**

**Chloe: Want me to get bossier? ;)**

Beca swallowed slightly and shifted in her seat.

"Once you've stopped sexting your girlfriend, would you mind getting out so we can attend to this patient?" Jesse said with a sigh.

"Uh, yeah. Sorry, Jess," Beca said, sending a rapid reply before climbing out of the vehicle.

**Beca: Quit teasing me Beale. See you in an hour or so xx**

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><p>Beca arrived at Chloe's house an hour and a half later, tired, aching and with a bust lip that was still slowly oozing blood.<p>

"Oh my god, Beca!" Chloe said when she answered the door to the exhausted brunette. "What happened?"

"Last patient of the night was an angry drunk and took a swing at me," she said with a shrug. "It's happened before." She tried to sound casual, even if she was convinced Chloe would be able to see her heart pounding out of her chest.

"Holy shit," Chloe said. "What do I do?" Beca gave a tired smile.

"Just kiss me on the other side," she said. Chloe kissed the corner of her mouth that wasn't bloodied. "Can we go to sleep now?"

"Well that depends, are you going to tell me how to fix that so you don't bleed all over my pillows?" Chloe asked, smirking slightly. Beca sighed before she went into Chloe's bathroom and cleaned the blood from her face.

"Do you have a band-aid?" She asked when she returned. Chloe got her one and secured it over the cut which seemed tiny now the blood had been cleared away. "Thank you," Beca said before kissing her, wincing slightly as their lips touched. Beca changed into a t-shirt she had kept at Chloe's and crawled into bed next to the redhead. "How was your day?"

"I bumped into your dad," she said, her hands running through Beca's chocolate locks.

"Oh," Beca said, resisting the urge to chew her lip. "How is he?"

"He seemed okay," Chloe said, watching Beca's reactions. "I mentioned we'd been hanging out, I hope that's okay."

"Yeah, of course it is," Beca said. Her stomach twisted slightly at the words "hanging out". Was that all they'd been doing? Just hanging out? Beca had thought it had been a bit more serious than that, not that they'd ever discussed it. Beca didn't even know if they were girlfriends or not. She shifted slightly, her chest hurting again.

"I can hear your head whirring," Chloe said, sleepily. "What's up?"

"Nothing," Beca replied, giving her the best smile she could without causing pain to her lip. "Let's just go to sleep." She wiggled around so her back was to the redhead and she stared at the wall, trying to even out her breathing so Chloe would think she'd fallen asleep. After about an hour, Beca heard Chloe sigh.

"I know you aren't asleep, Beca," she said. "You can talk to me, you know?"

"There's nothing to talk about," Beca said, her voice laced with tiredness.

"Then why didn't you sleep? Something's keeping you up," Chloe said, her hand running up and down Beca's back.

"It's nothing," Beca murmured.

"Beca," Chloe said, propping herself up on her arm so she could see her better.

"Chloe," Beca said, trying not to snap. "I'm fine. It's... Everything's fine."

"Why won't you tell me? What are you afraid of?" Chloe said.

_What are you afraid of?_

The smell of gasoline mixed with blood seemed to fill the room and Beca screwed her eyes up. Her breathing erratic as tears sprung to her eyes without her control. She curled herself into the foetal position as her body began to shake with the effort it was taking to breathe.

"Beca, it's okay," Chloe said, pulling the smaller girl into her arms. "Deep breaths, come on." Chloe took a deep breath in and out and after a few attempts, Beca began to mirror her. "That's it," she said, softly. "In and out."

"Everything," Beca said eventually. "I'm afraid of everything."

"I don't believe that for a second," Chloe said, brushing the hair from Beca's eyes. "You're the bravest person I know."

"Not any more," Beca said. "I'm... I'm a mess."

"You're not a mess, Beca. You're strong and you're brave, but you're just dealing with some shit at the moment. It doesn't make you a mess, it just means you might need some help. And that's okay, I can help you, but you have to let me."

"Why would you want to?" Beca asked, finally looking at Chloe, her stormy blue eyes seemed wide and almost child-like, as if she were truly afraid of the answer.

"Because I like you, you dumb-ass," Chloe said, laughing. "I mean, you're my girlfriend, right? I'm obviously going to like you."

"Girlfriend?" Beca asked, still wide-eyed. Still afraid.

"Yeah," Chloe said. "If you want to, that is."

"I do," Beca said, her genuine smile returning as she let out a breath she didn't realise she was holding. A few minutes later, and she was sound asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hello folks, here's the latest chapter. I know this fic is a bit of a slow burner atm, but I promise you I am building up to some serious drama. *slightly evil laugh***

**I do not own Pitch Perfect or any of its characters.**

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><p>"Honey, I'm home!" Chloe called as she returned from work. Aubrey was sitting on the sofa, painting her nails.<p>

"Hi babe," Aubrey said, not looking up.

"Very funny, where is she?" Chloe asked, kicking off her shoes.

"Still in bed as far as I can tell. Are we still on for tonight?" Aubrey asked, glancing up.

"Ah ha, I think so," Chloe said, heading for her bedroom. She dropped down onto her bed and poked the lump that was curled up under the covers. She got a grunt in response. "Wakey-wakey, sunshine," Chloe said in her cheeriest voice.

"Don't wanna," Beca replied.

Chloe pulled back the sheet before climbing underneath them.

"Fine," she said, snuggling up to the grumpy ball of Beca. "But you'll have to wake up soon. We have that double date tonight, remember?" Beca groaned again. "You're such a child," Chloe said, grinning. Beca un-curled herself and sat up in bed beside Chloe.

"How was your day?" She asked, rubbing her eyes with the palm of her hand.

"It was okay," Chloe said, her thumb brushing across the small cut on Beca's lip. "I can't believe someone hit you." Beca shrugged.

"These things happen," she said. "Do I still have that shirt here or did I take it home?"

"It's still here," Chloe said.

"Cool, I'm gonna shower if that's okay?" Beca said moving from the bed.

"Of course it is," Chloe said, her eyes drifting to the scar on Beca's thigh. She hadn't properly seen it in the light. She'd only ever caught glimpses of it in the darkness when Beca was changing for bed, or when they were doing... other things.

"It's gross, isn't it?" Beca said, following Chloe's line of vision. Chloe looked up at her with an 'are you serious?' expression on her face.

"Don't be ridiculous," Chloe said crawling to the end of the bed and holding her hand out for Beca to take. The brunette sheepishly took it, chewing her lip before wincing slightly. "It's sexy."

"It isn't sexy," Beca said, laughing slightly.

"It's a battle scar," Chloe said, brushing her fingers across it gently. "Battle scars are sexy."

"You're a weirdo," Beca said, smiling as Chloe knelt up to kiss her. "But I like it."

* * *

><p>A knock at the apartment door a few hours later disturbed Beca and Chloe from their make-out session.<p>

"Jesse's here! Let's go!" Aubrey called into Chloe's room.

"I'm gonna kill him," Beca said, climbing off of Chloe. They both hastily fixed their make-up and left the room.

"Was I interrupting something?" Jesse asked, smirking as he took in the girls' slightly dishevelled appearance.

"Don't make me hurt you Jesse," Beca said, her hand moving to the small of Chloe's back and resting there.

"And that coming from a paramedic," Jesse said, smirking at her. "No wonder they made you take a sabbatical."

"Funny," Beca said. "Shall we?" The four left the apartment and walked to the restaurant. Chloe entwined her hand with Beca's and gave it a squeeze.

"Okay?" She asked. Beca nodded. Chloe knew she would never say it, but Jesse's joke had bothered her. She could see the cogs turning behind her eyes as she chewed her lip. "Hey," Chloe said, pulling them to a stop. She rested her thumb on Beca's chin and gently tugged her lip from between her teeth. "You'll make it bleed again."

"Yeah," Beca said, still a little distracted. "Sorry."

"Do you want me to beat him up?" Chloe asked as they carried on walking. Beca gave a small laugh.

"He was just joking," she said, taking Chloe's hand again. "I don't think he really knows how much it all affected me."

"He was there, wasn't he?" Chloe asked.

"He tends not to dwell on these things like I do," Beca replied. "He didn't mean any harm by it."

"Hmm, okay then. I'll let him off," Chloe said.

* * *

><p>They walked back from the restaurant a few hours later, Chloe and Aubrey chatting ahead while Beca and Jesse walked behind them.<p>

"So, you like her?" Beca asked, lowering her voice. Little did she know Aubrey and Chloe were having the exact same conversation a few feet ahead.

"She's nice," Jesse said. "Very... bubbly."

"He's nice," Chloe said. "He seems very charming. Now I know you don't approve of her 'ear monstrosities' but what do you really think of Beca?"

"She's okay," Aubrey said, "a bit scowly."

"Scowly?" Chloe asked, frowning.

"Yeah, you know. Grumpy," Aubrey said.

"She's a bit uptight," Beca said. "From what I've seen anyway. I don't see her much when I'm with Chloe."

"She isn't uptight really," Jesse said, smiling slightly. "She's just tough."

"She's not grumpy," Chloe said. "You make her sound like one of the seven dwarfs." Aubrey opened her mouth to reply, a smirk already forming on her lips. "Don't make a height joke," Chloe warned, cutting her off.

"Damn," Aubrey said. "But she is scowly."

"She isn't. She's just tough," Chloe said. "You're actually a bit alike," Chloe and Jesse said simultaneously.

"Aca-scuse me?" Aubrey replied.

"Dude, no," Beca said at the same time. "Anyway, do you think I'm good enough for her?"

"Totally," he said. You're perfect together."

"I hate to admit it but you do seem perfect for each other," Aubrey said, slowing down their pace so they could rejoin the other two.

They walked as a foursome for a few more minutes when they heard a scuffle coming from an alleyway beside them.

"Hey!" Jesse shouted, and a pack of boys fled. They caught sight of a lone boy, about their age, leaning against a wall for support before taking a step and crumbling. Jesse and Beca detached themselves from their girlfriends and were over at his side before Chloe and Aubrey had even realised anything was happening.

"Jesse, call it in," Beca said, dropping to her knees beside the boy. "We've got facial injuries and a knife embedded in the thigh." She heard Jesse repeat her words into his phone. The boy reached for the knife so he could pull it out. "No!" Beca said. "Don't do that, you do that and you'll lose a lot more blood." He dropped his hand. "What's your name?" She asked, taking off her shirt, leaving her in just a vest-top, and carefully wrapping it around his leg.

"H-Harry," he said. His voice shaking. "Am I gonna die?"

"Not if I can help it," she said, giving him a small smile. Inside, her heart was pounding as adrenaline raced through her. He tried to smile but quickly dissolved into sobs. "Hey," Beca said softly, brushing the hair matted with blood from his face. "You're going to be okay, do you hear?" She turned to face Jesse and gave him a look that Aubrey and Chloe couldn't read, but that he knew meant that Harry was in trouble.

"Is there anything we can do?" Chloe asked.

"Just keep an eye out for the ambulance," Jesse said. Beca glanced at Chloe and tried to give her a reassuring smile as the two girls moved to the alley's entrance. Jesse crouched down too and applied pressure to the area around the knife. Harry let out a whimper of pain. "Fuck," Jesse said. "They must have hit the artery." His voice was just loud enough for Beca to hear.

"I know," she said, her jaw clenched slightly.

"It's really bad, isn't it?" Harry said, getting paler by the second.

"I've seen way worse," Beca said. It was true, she had. What she didn't mention was that most of those didn't survive.

"Oh yeah," Jesse said, his voice as calm, friendly and reassuring as it always was. If he was freaking out as much as Beca, his voice or expression certainly didn't show it. "You're gonna be fine, dude." The flashing lights of the ambulance filled the alleyway and Beca and Jesse both breathed a sigh of relief. "Halle-fucking-lujah," he said. Two of their colleagues took over from them as he filled them in on what had happened.

"What are you even doing out here, Mitchell?" Gail asked Beca as her partner and Jesse lifted him onto a stretcher.

"We're on a date and we were walking by and-" Beca said before she was cut off by Gail.

"Wait, what? You and Swanson were on a date?" She asked, thrown for a second.

"No," Beca said, rolling her eyes. "I mean, sort of. A double date. Our girlfriends are best friends."

"Ah," she said. "Well, good job. It looks like you might have saved this kid's life."

"Let us know how he is, yeah?" She asked as Gail climbed into the back of the ambulance with him. She gave Beca a nod before the doors were shut and the ambulance drove off.

"Holy shit," Chloe said once the sirens faded into the distance. "That was... I mean... You guys... You're like superheros." Jesse laughed. Beca gave her a smile but it was strained. Her hands were shaking as adrenaline still coursed through her. Jesse seemed totally at ease now as he pulled his best superhero pose, fists on hips with his chest puffed out.

"I, uh, need to go home," Beca said, looking down at her blood covered hands. Usually, she would have worn gloves.

"I'll come with you," Chloe said, her eyes still glowing with admiration.

After showering and changing, Beca lay on her bed, pulling Chloe towards her.

"Sorry our double date went a bit manic," she said as the redhead lay beside her.

"Are you kidding me? I mean, I was already crazy about you but now I've seen you do your whole life saving thing? Like, I didn't think it was possible, but I'm even more in-" Chloe said, cutting herself off and blushing furiously. "I'm even crazier about you." Beca raised an eyebrow, smirking slightly at the flustered redhead beside her.

"I'm pretty crazy about you too," Beca said.

"I'm serious, I don't think I've ever found you sexier. It's like you planned it," Chloe said, seamlessly recovering her composure.

"Yeah, that's how I end all my dates," Beca said. "I arranged a stabbing to happen near me when I'm walking her home."

"Oh so you do this for all the girls?" Chloe asked, mock-offended.

"Uh huh," Beca said, biting her lip playfully instead of nervously for a change. "And it usually works too." As Chloe leaned forward to close the gap between them, Beca closed her eyes, managing to ignore the tightness in her chest and the shaking in her hands.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hello my lovelies. Sorry for the delay on this chapter, work has taken up all of my time :( We have some drama in this chapter and I have a big dramatic event planned for the next few after :)**

**I do not own Pitch Perfect or any of its characters.**

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><p><em><strong>"Jesus fucking Christ," Beca said, gazing out at the scene of carnage before her. Cars were flipped over, piled up, smashed into each other. The air was full of the smell of gasoline and burning rubber and the screams and cries of the injured could only just be heard beneath the wailing of the emergency crews' sirens. "Jesse, what do we do?"<strong>_

_**"We help," he said. They spent a long time moving between cars, doing what they could. The small, terrified voice of a little girl drew Beca to her.**_

_**"Can you help me?" She said.**_

_**"Hey kiddo," Beca said, climbing into the back of the car. Jesse went into the front to check over who he assumed were the girl's parents. She was sat behind the driver's seat, the back of the car had crumpled, pushing her forward, trapping her legs against the seat, her dad's full weight pressed against it. "Where does it hurt?"**_

_**"It-it doesn't," she said, her eyes wide and full of tears. "I can't feel my legs." Beca glanced towards Jesse.**_

_**"Okay," Beca said, "let me just pop this on." She slipped a plastic collar around the little girl's neck, preventing anymore damage.**_

_**"Beca," Jesse said from the front. She looked at him and he shook his head slightly, letting her know that both people in the front of the car were dead. "What do you need?" He asked.**_

_**"We need to get her out of here," she said. He nodded and moved out of the car.**_

_**"You will stay, won't you?" She asked.**_

_**"Of course I will," Beca replied. She pulled out a wipe from her pack and cleaned the small amount of blood from the girl's face. "What's your name?"**_

_**"Maisy," she said. "What's yours?"**_

_**"I'm Beca. How old are you Maisy?" Beca said.**_

_**"Seven," Maisy said. "Are my mom and dad okay?" Beca swallowed slightly. She didn't want to outright lie to the girl.**_

_**"I just need to focus on you now, okay kiddo? Your mom and dad will be looked after," she said. She took the girl's hand. "Can you squeeze my hand?" She felt her hand tense slightly but no more. She took the other hand. "And this one?" There was even less of a squeeze. "Good girl."**_

_**"I'm scared," she said.**_

_**"I know," Beca replied, still holding her hand. "But that's okay. It's normal to be scared. Everyone's afraid of something."**_

_**"What are you afraid of?" Maisy asked, her voice wobbling.**_

_**"Spiders," Beca said. Maisy giggled. "And I don't really like heights. Or fire. Or small spaces." Maisy laughed again.**_

_**"You're afraid of a lot of things," she said.**_

_**"I am, but that's okay," Beca said. "You know I used to be afraid of blood?"**_

_**"No," Maisy said. "That's silly."**_

_**"I know," Beca replied. "Especially because I really wanted to be a doctor."**_

_**"How come you aren't scared of it now?" Maisy asked.**_

_**"I think I just got used to it," Beca said.**_

_**"Beca I want to go home," Maisy said, her eyes filling with tears again.**_

_**"I know you do, kiddo," Beca said, wishing there was something she could do to get Maisy out of the car. "We're gonna get you out of here." She could hear the sound of machines cutting through metal.**_

_**"Beca, I need you," she heard Jesse call from inside the car. Maisy's eyes went wide again.**_

_**"Don't worry, I'll be right back, I promise," Beca said, crawling out of the car. "What is it Jesse?" He pulled her so they were a safe distance away from the car so they could talk without being overheard.**_

_**"I'm going to need your help moving her parents out," he said, wiping the sweat from his forehead with the sleeve. His eyes narrowed slightly. "Oh fuck," he said. Beca turned as the tiniest of sparks flew from a saw that was slicing through the metal of a car, and landed on a trail of gasoline, which ignited in a second.**_

_**"No," Beca said, trying to move towards the car where Maisy sat trapped. As the car caught fire, Beca broke into a run.**_

_**"Beca!" Jesse shouted. Her eyes met with Maisy's a split-second before she was tackled by another paramedic. An explosion ripped throughout the car before she even hit the ground. Her back slammed into the road with enough force to knock all the air from her lungs and her petrol soaked leg caught fire quickly. She didn't move to put it out, she just stared at the cloud of smoke that filled the sky. Her cry lost in the sound of crackling fire as Jesse began furiously beating the fire on her leg.**_

Beca's eyes opened slowly, filled with tears. She was tired of this dream. Tired of the weight of the guilt that sat on her chest. Chloe was lying beside her, her hand resting on her stomach.

"Bad dream?" Chloe mumbled, her eyes still closed. _How does she know?_ Beca thought as she leant across to kiss her forehead.

"No," she said. "Go back to sleep."

"M'kay," Chloe said, smiling sleepily before falling asleep again. Beca extracted herself from Chloe's arms and made her way to the bathroom. She rested her hands on the sink and closed her eyes, resting her head against the cold glass of the mirror. She felt Chloe's arms wrap around her waist. "Come back to bed," she said softly. Beca expected to feel comforted by Chloe's arms around her but instead she felt even more trapped.

"In a minute," Beca said. Chloe left but Beca didn't feel any relief so she followed the redhead out of the room and climbed back onto the bed.

* * *

><p>She woke up late the next morning. Chloe had already left for work, a note stuck to her bedside table.<p>

'Meet me at the university at lunch time? I have an early finish.

Chloe x'

She sent Chloe a text saying she'd be there and then rolled out of bed to take a shower.

A few hours later and she hovered in the covered walkway outside of Chloe's building, waiting for the redhead to appear. A few minutes later, Chloe walked out of a doorway, smiling at her. She gestured her to follow her inside so Beca did. She followed Chloe down a few hallways and then into a small office. The office had a squashy, comfortable couch, a desk and one wall that was essentially an enormous book-case. There were no windows but Beca found the crowded room oddly comforting.

"Welcome to my second home," Chloe said, gesturing for Beca to take a seat.

The two chatted and ate lunch before Chloe collected her things and they left, heading for Beca's apartment. Chloe's hand slipped into hers as they walked from the building.

"Beca?" A man said. Beca closed her eyes and groaned before turning around.

"Hi dad," she said. He gave her a quick hug, beaming at her and Chloe.

"I haven't seen you in months," he said. "Why don't you ever call me back?"

"Because I'm simply a terrible daughter," Beca said, rolling her eyes slightly. "And I work most of the hours God sends."

"Beca," he said, sighing.

"Got to go dad," Beca said, tugging Chloe's hand. "Speak soon."

"Beca," he called after her.

"What was all that about?" Chloe asked once they had left the university.

"What was all what about?" Beca said.

"That whole thing with your dad?" She asked. "Do you two not get on?"

"We get on fine," Beca said.

"Yeah, it seemed like that," Chloe said. Beca sighed.

"There's a bit of... tension there. That's all," she said. They didn't speak again until they reached Beca's apartment.

"Do you want to talk-"

"No," Beca said, cutting her off.

"Okay," Chloe said, holding her hands up slightly.

"Sorry," Beca said, dropping onto the sofa. She rested her head in her hands. "Everything's just a bit... You know?" Chloe sat beside her and put a hand on her knee.

"I'm guessing that dream you had last night was about what happened?" She asked. Beca nodded. "Beca, you can't keep holding onto that. It'll eat you alive."

"I'm really fucking aware of that," Beca said, dropping her hands but still keeping her eyes fixed to the ground.

"It wasn't your fault," Chloe said.

"I promised her," Beca said, looking at Chloe. "I fucking promised a seven-year-old girl that she would be okay. I shouldn't have left her."

"Beca," Chloe said, realisation of what Beca was saying dawning on her. "You don't mean-"

"I should have been with her when... When it happened," Beca said, blinking back tears.

"Fucking hell, Becs," Chloe said. "I mean, we need to talk about this."

"No, we don't," Beca said. "I don't want to talk about anything."

"Beca-"

"Jesus, Chlo'," she said, exasperated. "Please. I'm not one of your fucking students. You don't have to try to fix me, okay?" Chloe dropped her hand from Beca's leg. "I'm sorry. I didn't-"

"Yes you did," Chloe said, her voice wobbling slightly. She stood and moved to the door. "I wasn't trying to fix you Beca," she said, hovering at the doorway. "I was trying to help you."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: At long last we have the drama :)**

**I do not own Pitch Perfect or any of its characters.**

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><p><strong>Beca: I'm really sorry, okay? Please just talk to me. xx<strong>

**Beca: I'm the world's biggest idiot and the worst girlfriend ever. And I miss you like crazy. Call me or answer my calls or something. I'm going crazy xx**

**Beca: Please, Chlo'. I really fucking miss you xx**

**Beca: I've fucked this, haven't I? **

* * *

><p>An hour into their shift and Jesse was still scowling at Beca. He'd barely spoken a word to her since she climbed into the ambulance and, not that she'd asked him, Beca had a pretty good idea why.<p>

"Dude, seriously, cut it out," Beca said, eventually growing sick of the silence.

"I just don't get you," he said as a call crackled through their radio.

"Yeah, well, that makes two of us," she said before picking up the radio and responding. Jesse flicked the sirens on and began driving towards the emergency.

"I mean, she could easily be the nicest person in the world. And she's perfect for you. And she just so happens to be totally into you and you treat her like that," he said.

"I know!" Beca said. "Jesus fucking Christ, Jesse. I know. I messed up. But I tried to apologise straight away and she just left. And she won't answer my texts or calls. I even tried going over there and Aubrey slammed the door in my face." Jesse seemed to soften slightly.

"She's hurt Becs," he said, glancing at his friends as he sped down the highway. He saw her tense, her hands clasped tightly in her lap. She stayed that way until they were off the highway. "I know that whole thing with, uh, the kid-"

"Maisy," Beca said, cutting him off and glaring at him.

"Yeah," he said. "I know that was hard on you but you've got to move past it. You can't let get in the way of you and Chloe. She only wants to help you."

"I know that," Beca said. "But I don't want her to see me as just another one of her patients."

"And I'm sure she doesn't mean to make you feel that but just imagine if she was sick or injured," he said, taking a sharp turn. She wasn't sure if it was the turn or the thought of Chloe in pain that caused her stomach to squirm. "You'd end up treating her like a patient, wouldn't you?" She sighed before nodding her head.

"I guess so," she said. "What do I do Jesse?"

"Find her and tell her," he said.

* * *

><p>A few hours later and Beca had decided that after her shift she would go to Chloe's apartment and wouldn't leave until the redhead agreed to speak to her. Jesse had also suggested she carry a boombox and a bunch of flowers but she quickly told him where to shove his romantic movie bullshit. Just as Jesse was arguing that Chloe might enjoy romantic movie bullshit, a new call came through the radio.<p>

"Emergency crew required at Barden University. Partial building collapse. Firefighters and paramedics needed," the voice on the radio said.

"Oh fuck," Beca said. Jesse responded to the call immediately and his foot flattened on the accelerator. Beca reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell. She dialed Chloe's number and waited, her heart pounding.

"Hello you've reached Chloe Beale. I'm not here right now so please leave a message after the beep," Chloe's voice said through the phone.

"Chlo', I know you're mad at me but please tell me you weren't in that building collapse. I'll leave you alone forever if that's what you want, just please tell me you're okay," Beca said, feeling a hand squeezing her heart again.

They arrived at Barden University in record time and were greeted by a scene of total chaos. Beca's eyes scanned the crowds of people for the redhead but couldn't see her anywhere. Then she took note of the building that had partially collapsed and realised it was where Chloe's office was. Nestled, windowless in the middle.

"Beca!" She heard a man call. She spun around to see her dad running up to her and unexpectedly felt the tightness in her chest lesson.

"You're okay," she said, breathing out as she embraced him. "Have you seen Chloe?" He shook his head.

"I have to go check on my students," he said, looking around. "It looks like everyone made it out though." He kissed her on the top of the head and left. As Jesse began treating his way through the crowd of people who showed nothing more serious than minor injuries, Beca found the fire chief who was talking to the head professor of the building.

"Did everyone make it out of here?" Beca asked.

"I think so," the professor said, glancing down at his list of the people who were currently supposed to be inside. He had checked off each one as he found them. Beca breathed a sigh of relief and her eyes began searching the crowd again. "Wait," he said, going back to his list. "We're missing just one person. The student counsellor, Chloe Beale." Beca turned back to face the crumbling building. There was a tiny opening which lead to the part of the building that was still standing. The same part that contained Chloe's tiny office.

"Someone has to go in for her," Beca said, tears burning her eyes. Jesse came up to her.

"Have you found her?" He asked. She shook her head.

"She's... She's still inside," she said.

"None of our guys are small enough to get in there," the fire chief said, sadly shaking his head. "We would try to shift some of the debris but it's too unstable. We have to wait for back up." But Beca had stopped listening as she eyed the gap into the building.

"Beca," Jesse warned. "Don't even think about it."

"I can get through that gap," Beca said, quiet enough so only Jesse would here.

"Beca!" Jesse said as she took off towards the building. She pushed her pack through the opening and crawled onto her stomach before easing herself through the gap which was almost too small for even her to fit through. She felt someone tug at her legs, trying to pull her out but she kicked out until her foot connected with whoever it was and they let her go. She wriggled until she was through enough to crawl on her hands and knees. She paused and screwed her eyes up, breathing heavily. She really did hate enclosed spaces. Every impulse was telling her to back up and breathe the fresh air again but she pushed those feelings down and crawled on, pushing her pack ahead of her. Eventually she was able to stand again. As she did she heard a rumbling above her. She looked up just in time to see the cracks in the ceiling spreading. She hurled herself out of the way as it came crashing down around her. She landed hard on her arm and heard a sickening crack. With her other arm, she pulled her pack so it was covering her head and waited as the tiny pieces of stone rained down on her. Once it had stopped she turned around and saw her exit was now completely obscured. But then, how had she planned on getting out? If Chloe was injured there was no way she could have gotten her through there. No, deep down Beca knew she hadn't planned on getting out. She just wanted to be with Chloe. To tell her that she was there. That she wouldn't leave. That she loved her. The pain in her broken arm reached a crescendo as she closed her eyes, letting darkness and relief wash over her.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: So maybe you're all a little mad at me for the previous chapter? :P Well, here's a nice long one to make up for it!**

**Thank you all the reviewers/readers/followers/favouriters, you guys are awesome.**

**I do not own Pitch Perfect or any of its characters.**

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><p>With a low groan, Beca dragged her eyes open. She had wanted to stay in the warm, blissful nothingness a little while longer but the muffled voices coming from her radio forced her awake.<p>

"Mitchell! Will you fucking answer me?!" Gail's voice said, breaking up slightly. Beca un-clipped the radio from her belt with her good arm and brought it to her mouth.

"Mitchell here," she said, wearily.

"What in God's name were you thinking?!" She yelled.

"I was thinking that I might try to save my girlfriend's life," Beca replied.

"And how did that work for you?" Gail huffed.

"I think I broke my arm," she said before forcing herself to sit up. As Gail sent through a string of curse words, Beca used her good arm to unzip her pack and make a make-shift sling. Once her broken arm was haphazardly wrapped and held against her body, she closed the pack and got unsteadily to her feet. "If you want to be helpful boss," she said, swinging the pack over her shoulder, "you can find me a way out of here."

"Well that's going to be a bit fucking difficult Mitchell considering the bit of the building that hasn't turned to rubble is on fire!" Gail shot back, still furious. Beca froze.

"What?" She said, feeling panic set in for the first time since the ceiling had nearly crushed her. She heard Gail sigh.

"Look Beca," she said. This was bad, Beca thought. She never calls her Beca. "The fire crew are trying to put it out. If they do that, they'll come in for you and Chloe."

"And if they don't?" Beca replied. She cursed herself for the fear that filled her voice. She could take being crushed to death. But fire? Fire she couldn't handle.

"We're doing our best out here," Gail said, the anger gone from her voice. Beca closed her eyes and clenched her jaw. Tears had cut through the dust on her cheeks.

"Okay," Beca replied before clipping the radio back to her belt. She carried on walking in the direction of Chloe's office. The air was so thick with dust it was almost choking her. She pulled a torch from her pack and pulled the t-shirt she had on under her overalls, up over her nose and mouth. It was soaked in sweat so at least offered some kind of protection. She could faintly smell smoke, but wondered if that was just her imagination. Finally she reached Chloe's office. The door was open just enough for Beca to squeeze through.

"Hello?" A small voice came from behind the desk.

"Chloe?" Beca said, moving further into the room.

"Beca?!" Chloe cried with relief. Beca sped towards the voice and saw that Chloe had been pinned down by the enormous bookcase that had lined the back wall. "Oh God, I'm so glad to see you," she said. "I'm sorry I didn't answer your texts and calls-"

"It's okay," Beca said, softly cutting her off. "That doesn't matter anymore." The dust wasn't bad in here. In fact, if it wasn't for the tipped bookcase and the broken pictures which strewed the floor, you wouldn't realise anything had happened.

"It was an earthquake," Chloe said. "At least, I think it was. One second the ground's shaking, the next thing I know I'm trapped under here and half the building's collapsed." She took in Beca's appearance. "What happened to your arm?"

"Uh, I broke it. Part of the ceiling came down and I dived out of the way a bit too enthusiastically," she said, smirking slightly.

"Wait a second," Chloe said, "why are you alone?"

"I may or may not have ignored instructions and ran towards the falling down building when I heard you were still stuck inside," Beca said. "I mean, I think I should get some pretty good girlfriend points for that."

"Beca Mitchell you did not risk your life to get to me!" Chloe said, using her free arm to hit Beca in her good shoulder.

"Of course I did!" Beca replied. "Was I just supposed to let you die? Jesus, is that how low of an opinion you have of me?"

"Don't be stupid," Chloe spat back. "But imagine if I'd done this for you? You'd be so mad."

"You're damn right I would," Beca said, no trace of humor in her voice now. "I'm not worth saving. You on the other hand-"

"Don't fucking say that!" Chloe said, just as angry. "Don't say things like that to me, Beca." She was crying now. Tears were soaking into the carpet where her head lay. "It fucking terrifies me that you think things like that about yourself. I... I love you, okay?" Beca choked out a small sob before leaning down and pressing her lips to Chloe's. The redhead tilted her head as best she could and kissed back, hungrily. As if it was the last kiss they would ever share.

"I love you too," Beca breathed, her eyes still closed.

"Good," Chloe said. "Now get me out from under this thing so I can kick your ass." Beca's eyes widened as if she had just remembered where they were.

"Okay," she said, shaking herself mentally. "Where hurts?"

"Just my back and my arm," Chloe replied.

"Not... Not your legs?" Beca said, trying to keep the unease from her voice.

"No," Chloe said, unconcerned.

"Can you move them?" Beca asked. After a few seconds Chloe shook her head.

"That's because they're trapped though, right?" She asked.

"It could be," Beca said, uncertainly. "Right... Right what we're gonna do is this," Beca said, wiping the sweat from her forehead with the sleeve of her good arm. She could definitely smell smoke now. "I'm going to lift the bookcase and I need you to ease yourself out, okay? Don't make any sudden or jerky movements. Just, nice and easy, nice and slowly, slide yourself out."

"Okay," Chloe said, her face determined. Beca braced herself, then, with her good arm, lifted the bookcase so it rested on her shoulder. She fought back any desire to cry out in pain as she straightened her legs enough so Chloe had room to move.

"Take your time," Beca said, her voice strained.

"Beca, I... I can't move my legs," Chloe said, her voice panicked now.

"It's okay, Chlo'," Beca said in the calmest voice she could manage. "Just pull yourself forward. You're going to be okay, I promise." She watched as Chloe inched herself painfully slowly from under the book case's crushing weight. "That's it," Beca said, encouragingly. "You're doing great." Beca felt her arms begin to shake and she knew she wouldn't be able to hold it up for much longer. She wondered vaguely if she would be able to position herself over Chloe so she got the worst of the impact if her arms finally gave out. Before that happened, however, Chloe had managed to crawl out of harms way. With a grunt, Beca let the case fall and she dropped onto her knees, the urge to vomit rising in her.

"Beca?" Chloe said. Her voice sounded miles away. She closed her eyes and forced herself to take steadying breaths.

"I'm okay," she managed to say, her eyes still closed. She opened them and moved over to Chloe. "Are you okay?" She asked, sweeping the matted hair from Chloe's face.

"I'm scared," she said, her voice a whisper. The two words slammed into Beca like a train as she felt the guilt and anxiety rise.

"I know," Beca choked out. "But we're going to get out of here, alright?" She said, tears in her eyes. "Me and you." Chloe nodded. Beca grabbed her radio. "We need a way out boss," she said.

"We're working on it Mitchell," came Gail's reply. "If you can, get to a room with a window on one of the upper floors. We can get a ladder to you from there."

"Okay," Beca said, gritting her teeth in determination. She looked at Chloe who looked exhausted and dangerously close to passing out. "Okay, Chloe, I need you to stay with me for this, okay?" Beca said, cupping Chloe's face with her good arm. Chloe nodded. "I'm going to turn around and I need you to wrap your arms around my neck as tight as you can, okay? Then I'm going to stand up and get us out of here. Can you do that?"

"Beca, you can't carry me," Chloe said, tears in her eyes.

"I can damn well try," Beca said. "Cover your mouth and nose with your top," she added before doing the same herself. Beca grabbed her pack and slid it onto Chloe's back. She turned around and, reluctantly, Chloe wrapped her arms around her. Pain shot through Beca's broken arm but the brunette ignored it. "Okay," she said, taking deep breaths. "No matter what happens, you don't let go, okay? Even if it sounds like I'm in pain."

"Beca-"

"Chloe, promise me you won't let go!" Beca said, a surge or pain causing her to raise her voice.

"Okay, I promise," Chloe sobbed. After a few more deep breaths Beca staggered to her feet. She jostled slightly so Chloe shifted further up her back.

"Can you move your legs at all?" Beca asked.

"A little," Chloe said. Beca sat Chloe on the desk that was still, miraculously, upright, and positioned the redhead's legs so the wrapped around her waist.

"Can you hold them there?" Beca asked.

"I think so," Chloe said. "Fuck, Beca, my back... It really hurts."

"I know Chlo'," Beca said softly. "But you've just got to stick with me, okay?"

"Okay," Chloe said. Beca tilted herself forward so Chloe lifted from the desk and began carrying her out of the room.

The hallway outside was thick with smoke and the heat was intense. Beca swayed and for one alarming second Chloe was convinced that the brunette would black out at any second.

"Come on, Becs," Chloe said firmly. "You can do this." Coughing, Beca began the agonising climb up the stairs. Her arm, back, lungs, and legs were screaming in protest as Beca staggered up them. The ferocious crackling of the fire was getting nearer. Beca couldn't stop the little whimpers of pain and began crying openly as she pulled them up the seemingly never-ending staircase. Just as she reached the landing, her legs buckled and she managed to removed the shirt from her face in time to throw-up. The bile burning her throat almost as much as the smoke burned her lungs.

"Chloe," Beca said, trying her best to breathe normally. "I need you to tell me which of these rooms has windows." But Chloe didn't answer. Her grip slackened and she slid off Beca's back, the smoke finally getting to her. "Fuck," Beca cried. She pulled the unconscious redhead over her injured shoulder and staggered to the closest room. She kicked the door open and was relieved to find the fire had yet to spread there and, thankfully, there was a window. She lay Chloe down and moved towards the window, she un-clipped her radio and spoke into it. "I don't know where we are but we're by a window," her voice had become tired and almost monotonous. "Just... Just hurry, okay? Smashing the glass now." She slammed the butt of her radio into the window and it cracked and shattered, small bits of glass cutting her hand. Unable to stand for much longer, she staggered back to where Chloe was lying. With a dawning realisation, she pulled the pack from Chloe's back and unzipped it, pulling an oxygen mask and a very small tank with it. "Fucking hell," Beca moaned. _Why didn't I think of this earlier?!_ She thought. She slipped the mask over Chloe's face and switched the tank on. She hoped it wasn't too late to do any good. She changed her position so her back was resting against a desk and she cradled Chloe's head in her lap, her hands running through the red curls. Smoke was beginning to fill the room now. A tiny voice in her head was telling her to move towards the window and breathe the smoke free air and call for help. But a louder voice told her to stay put. It wasn't so bad here. It was warm and the pain was beginning to ebb away. She was too tired to struggle towards the window. Too tired to call and scream for help. Just, too tired. She was vaguely aware of a voice crackling through her radio but she couldn't make out what it said.

_And anyway,_ Beca thought as she closed her eyes,_ there are probably much worse ways to die._


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Here's the latest update my lovelies :)**

**Also, I know that the Gail in this fic is absolutely nothing like the Gail from Pitch Perfect but I really wanted a badass Elizabeth Banks character in this so I just used Gail and changed her :P**

**I do not own Pitch Perfect or any of its characters.**

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><p>Jesse, Gail and the rest of their colleagues waited anxiously as they heard Beca's message through the radio. Jesse was sporting a fast-forming black eye from when Beca had kicked him when he'd tried to pull her out.<p>

"Come on, Beca," he muttered, watching the windows of the building. "There!" He said, pointing to one that had just smashed open. Smoke began curling out of it. The fire crew positioned their ladder as a fireball ripped through the glass of a window that was only a few away from the one Beca had just smashed. Gail picked up her radio.

"Mitchell, the ladder is in place but you need to move now," she said. No answer came. "Mitchell, do you read me?" She shot a panicked look at Jesse. "Beca?"

"Fuck this," Jesse said and he took off running towards the ladder.

"Swanson, don't you dare!" Gail called, running after him. He began climbing the ladder and she wasn't far behind him. He reached the top and carefully climbed into the room, avoiding the broken glass that was still sticking from the window. The room was thick with smoke now and he immediately coughed as he staggered in. He pulled the torch from his pack and shone it around him. The beam landed on the two girls and he rushed over to them. "If you get us killed Swanson I swear to God I will murder you," Gail said, panting as she followed him into the room. "You take Chloe, I'll get Beca." Jesse crouched over the redhead and shone his torch in her face.

"Chloe, can you hear me?" He felt Gail taking something from his pack and he turned to see Gail taking the oxygen from it as well as the other mask that was used for CPR. He turned back to Chloe and saw her eyes had opened and she was frantically looking around her. "It's okay," he said gently. "Can you stand?" She shook her head and said something that Jesse couldn't hear.

"Jesse get her out of here," Gail said, her voice sounding panicked. He turned to see her crouched low over Beca, her ear close to the girl's face.

"Is she-" Jesse said as he began to move towards her.

"Jesse!" Gail shouted. "Get Chloe out of here now." With an anguished look at Beca, he turned back to Chloe and then lifted her over his shoulder. She let out a cry of pain.

"My back, Jesse!" She cried.

"I'm sorry Chlo', we'll be out of here soon," he said easing his way down the ladder.

"Where's Beca?" She asked, her words muffled by the combination of the mask and Jesse's back. He still heard her, though.

"She's... She'll be okay," he said, his legs shaking slightly as he climbed down the ladder with her still over his shoulder.

Back in the room and Gail was frantically trying find Beca's pulse. But she couldn't. There was no flicker of a heart beat and no rise and fall of her chest. She began cutting away at Beca's make-shift sling. Once her arm was free, she moved it away from her chest and then tilted Beca's head back to clear her airways before she began CPR. She was aware of the heat growing stronger and the smoke getting thicker. This wasn't the ideal place for CPR, but she knew by the time she got Beca down the ladders, she would have been gone for too long.

"Come on, Beca," she said, tears mingling with the sweat on her face as she pumped the small woman's chest. "Please. Don't make me tell that girl of yours that I lost you," she said. "Don't make me do that, Mitchell." She wasn't sure how long it had been, but the ache in her arms told her it had been a while.

"Gail, what's happening up there?" Jesse's voice came from her radio. She looked up to see that the fire had finally eaten its way through the door. She was out of time. Beca was out of time.

"Fuck!" She cried, finally stopping the rhythmic pumping. She closed her eyes, letting the tears spill over them.

Then she heard a cough.

Her eyes snapped open and she looked down to see Beca's chest rise and fall ever so slightly. The tiny brunette gave another cough and Gail quickly strapped the oxygen mask over her face before flicking it on. She pressed her shaking hand to Beca's neck and felt a tiny pulse beneath it. She hoisted the girl over her shoulder and made her way out of the window. Half way down the ladder, fire bellowed out of the room they'd just come from. Gail could hear the cheers of the watching crowd as she finally put two feet on the ground. She lay Beca down on the waiting stretcher and told them to get her to hospital urgently.

"Severe smoke inhalation and a possible broken arm," she said to the other paramedics. "Lost output from anywhere between ten to twenty minutes."

"Beca!" Chloe called from her stretcher.

"Jesse, what the fuck is she still doing here?" Gail asked, wiping the sweat and tears from her face.

"She refused to go before she'd seen that Beca was okay. She... She is okay, isn't she?" He said, worry etched on his face. Gail swept a strand of her blonde hair out of her face while she thought for a second.

"She's alive," she said, finally. "But aside from that, I have no information." Chloe choked out a sob. "Talk me through Chloe's condition, Swanson." Gail said, pushing down the lump in her throat.

"Uh, minor smoke inhalation," he said. "If Beca hadn't put that mask on her when she did, we'd be looking at a lot worse right now. Patient is also complaining of back pain and has minimal feeling in her legs, so possible spinal fracture."

"Stop talking about me like I'm not here," Chloe snapped. She immediately felt guilty when she saw the sheepish look on Jesse's face. "I'm sorry Jess, I didn't mean that," she said. "I'm just scared."

"I know," he said. "It's okay."

"She saved me," Chloe said, looking down at her hands. "If she doesn't make it, it's my fault."

"She knew what she was doing Chloe," Gail said, placing a hand on her arm. "Come on, we have to get you to hospital."

After several x-rays, it was confirmed that Chloe had indeed fractured several vertebrae in her spine. She was immediately whisked off to emergency surgery so they could attempt to repair them.

Jesse had called Aubrey from the university and told her to meet him at the hospital. The blonde was now sitting outside the OR with bloodshot eyes.

"Is there any news on Beca?" She asked when Jesse re-joined her with two plastic cups of coffee. He shook his head.

"She hasn't woken up yet," he said. She placed her hand on his knee and squeezed it. "She's still breathing on her own which is a good sign."

"Thank you for getting Chloe out of there," she said. He shook his head again.

"It was all Beca," he said. "From what Chloe told me, she lifted up a bookcase and then carried her on her back up a flight of stairs and after Chloe passed out, she carried her into a nearby office, smashed a window and managed to get an oxygen mask on her. And she did it all with a broken arm. All I did was climb a ladder and carry her out."

"Don't play yourself down, Jesse. You still climbed into a burning building to save your best friend and mine," she said. "But don't worry. When Beca wakes up she'll be getting thanked as well."

"If she wakes up," Jesse said, sadly.

"Did you not hear the story you just told me?" Aubrey asked, her eyebrows raised. "Beca's strong. She's a fighter. She'll get through this."


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Updating quicker than usual because I'm working 4-8 tonight (a pretty pointless four hour shift but oh well) so will probably be too tired to write it tonight.**

**Really glad you all seem to be enjoying this fic so far :)**

**I do not own Pitch Perfect or any of its characters**

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><p>Jesse was sitting beside Beca's bed, still in his uniform. His back hurt and his legs were stiff but he didn't move.<p>

"Thanks for the black eye, by the way," he said. "I hope you don't mind but I'm going to avoid telling people a tiny woman kicked me in the face. I'll come up with a better story." He paused, watching her, imagining her sarcastic response. But, of course, she didn't give one. "I always knew you'd do this," he said, rubbing his tired eyes. "I always knew you'd get seriously hurt being the hero. I mean, do you remember our first shift? You climbed onto that roof to talk down that girl who was threatening to jump, despite the fact it wasn't your job and you're shit scared of heights. I remember thinking, this kid is going to cause me trouble. Gail nearly fired you." He gave a small tired laugh. "Then there was the car that drove off the pier and you jumped in to help get their kid out. You nearly got pneumonia. And then Maisy..." He trailed off with a sigh. "You always want to save everyone. And I know I used to say that was a bad thing and it can make you reckless. But... But you're the kind of paramedic I always wanted to be." Tears were stinging his tired eyes. He felt someone clap a hand on his shoulder.

"How is she, son?" Dr. Mitchell asked.

"Just the same," he said. "I'm gonna go and get some air." He stood and her dad took his seat.

"Thank you for helping to get her out," he said as Jesse reached the door.

"I... It was Gail. I got Chloe out," he said, rubbing the back of his head.

"I saw what happened, Jesse," he said, his eyes still on Beca. "You ran up the ladder first. You went in to get her."

"Yeah," he said. "I did." Then he left.

"I heard some things about you, Beca," John Mitchell said, taking his daughter's hand. "I heard about what happened at the highway. About that kid you tried to save. And I heard you broke down about it. Dammit, Beca, I wish you'd talk to me about these things. I know stuff hasn't been great between us, but I've tried to make up for it. I know I lost it with you when you left med school, but I was wrong. I was so wrong, Beca. And I'm so proud of you."

* * *

><p>When Chloe came round from her surgery, her first word was a mumbled something that Aubrey didn't quite catch.<p>

"What did you say, Chlo'?" She asked, leaning closer to her friend, sweeping the hair from her face.

"Beca," she said again, opening her eyes and looking around her.

"She's... She hasn't woken up yet," Aubrey said, her voice catching in her throat. Chloe closed her eyes and brought her hands up to cover them before she started sobbing. "I'm so sorry Chloe."

"I want to see her," Chloe said, once she had finished crying.

"Chloe, you broke your back," Aubrey said, sadly.

"I fractured a bit of my spine," Chloe countered, rolling her eyes.

"Same difference," Aubrey said. "But for now you need rest." Chloe folded her arms huffily. "Don't pout, Chlo'."

"I just want to see her, 'Bree," Chloe said.

"I'll go see what I can do," Aubrey said, leaving the room in search of a doctor. She returned a few minutes later accompanied by Jesse and a doctor.

"I didn't thank you before Jesse," Chloe said, reaching out to take his hand.

"Just doing my job," he said, smiling a little embarrassed.

"Well, actually I think you did a fireman's job but that's beside the point," Chloe said, squeezing his hand. "Thank you."

"So, Miss Beale, what we're going to do is test the relfexes in your legs. As far as we can tell the surgery in repairing the damage done to your back was successful, but we won't know for sure until we test you," the doctor said.

"Okay," Chloe said, a little nervous.

Doctors spent the next hour testing Chloe's reflexes. Chloe was more than relieved when she found she could feel things in her legs.

"So what does this all mean?" Aubrey asked once they had finished their tests.

"It means that, with a lot of hard work and physiotherapy, Chloe should regain the full use of her legs," he said.

"So can I see Beca?" Chloe asked. The doctor let out a noise that was somewhere between a laugh and a sigh.

"Yes," he said. "I'll have a nurse get you a wheelchair and take you to her."

Soon, Chloe was being wheeled into Beca's room, Jesse and Aubrey waited outside. Dr. Mitchell was sitting beside his daughter's bed, holding her hand and brushing his thumb across her knuckles. He looked up when he heard Chloe enter.

"Glad to see you're okay," he said, giving her a tired smile.

"Thank you," she said.

"I'll leave you to it," he said standing and leaving the room. Chloe wheeled herself closer to Beca's bed and reached across to take her hand.

"Hi Beca," Chloe said, her voice catching in her throat. "I don't really know what so say. I want to yell at you for basically sacrificing yourself to save me. And I want to yell at you to wake up. Because the doctors say it's all on you now. They've done what they can so you just need to fight." Her hand gripped Beca's even tighter. "Beca I'm really fucking scared, okay? I'm scared you're just going to give up and you can't do that. I need you." Chloe's voice gave out as she started crying. "Just fucking wake up, Beca!" She shouted between sobs. Drawn by the noise, Jesse and Aubrey ran into the room.

"Oh, Chlo'," Aubrey said rushing over to the redhead. She wrapped her arms around her friend and Chloe burrowed herself into her, sobbing into her chest. Jesse stood at the end of Beca's bed, tears filling his eyes as she lay unmoving and unaware. Chloe wiped her eyes and took hold of Beca's hand again, her face determined now.

"Come on, Beca," she said. "Just squeeze my hand. That's all you have to do for now." They all waited, watching. Beca's hand remained still and limp. "Dammit, Beca. I fucking love you, can you just do something!"

"Chloe," Aubrey said, casting a worried look at Jesse.

"Do something!" She yelled, ignoring Aubrey. "You can't just give up! You can't leave me here alone." The steady beating of Beca's heart monitor increased.

"Chloe, calm down," Jesse said, worried she was causing Beca stress.

"No!" Chloe said. "She's not allowed to quit!"

"Chloe!" Jesse said, matching her volume. "This isn't helping, okay?"

"I just want her to hear me," Chloe said, dissolving into sobs again.

"I know," Jesse said, softening.

"Please Beca," her voice was quiet now. "Let me know you're still there."

Beca squeezed her hand.

"Oh my god," Chloe gasped. Beca's features furrowed slightly.

"Stop yelling at me," she mumbled. "Some of us are trying to sleep."


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Hey buddies, sorry this is hella late but real life keeps getting in the way.**

**Thank you to every follow, review and favourite, and just for reading :)**

**I do not own Pitch Perfect or any of its characters**

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><p>Beca sat, silent and calm, as doctors whizzed around her, performing every test they had. Chloe had been taken back to her room before they'd had a chance to speak to each other, so now Beca waited patiently for the doctors to leave her alone so she could see her again.<p>

"Okay," the doctor said, standing at the foot of her bed, looking down at his clipboard.

"Can I see Chloe?" Beca said, interrupting him. She had done what they said without complaint for the last two hours, and all she wanted now was to see her girlfriend. The doctor sighed.

"Beca, you nearly died. In fact, you did die! For about twenty minutes. You're lucky you aren't brain-dead. You inhaled enough smoke to kill a 200 lbs man. You were unconscious for about 36 hours. You have two cracked ribs and an arm so broken it's amazing you're actually getting to keep it," he said, exasperated.

"I just want-"

"And Chloe is recovering from major surgery to fix her fractured spine. So, no Beca. I'm afraid you'll have to wait to see her until after your surgery," he said.

"She fractured her spine?" Beca said, trying to shift her position without hurting her already painful ribs. "Is she okay?"

"She's in for a long road of physio, but she'll be okay," he said, softening slightly. "You can see her once you come out of theatre, okay?"

"Okay," she mumbled, sulking. "Wait," she added, eyebrows furrowing in confusion, "how did I crack a rib?"

"It seems Gail was perhaps a little heavy-handed when she was giving you CPR," he said, a slight smile.

"Gail got me out? Who got Chloe?"

"Jesse, I think," he said, before he left the room.

* * *

><p>Beca woke up after her surgery when she heard the chair scraping beside her. She opened her eyes to see Jesse leaving the room.<p>

"Welcome back, Mitchell," a voice said from her other side. She turned to see Gail sitting beside her, smiling.

"Hey," Beca said, smiling sleepily.

"I heard I cracked some ribs," Gail said. "Sorry about that."

"It's cool," Beca said. "But I didn't know you liked me so much."

"Don't kid yourself, Mitchell," Gail said with a laugh. "The only reason I wanted to bring you back was so I could kick your ass for running in there in the first place."

"Ah," Beca said, smirking again. "Sure." There was a comfortable silence between them and Beca was tempted to close her eyes and sleep again, when Gail spoke.

"I really am glad you're okay," she said.

"Thank you for getting me out of there," Beca replied. They heard raised voices coming from outside the room.

"Why didn't you fucking call me, Jesse?!" A woman shouted.

"Hey, I tried! You were on vacation, your phone went straight to voicemail!" He replied. The door burst open and Stacie stormed in.

"Beca Mitchell," she said, her voice low and her eyes full of tears. "Which is your broken arm?" Beca timidly raised her cast-covered right arm. Stacie moved to her left side and started hitting her in the left arm. "Don't. You. Ever. Fucking. Scare. Me. Like. That. Again." She said, each word punctuated with a hit.

"Ow!" Beca said, trying to shield herself.

"Dr. Conrad, that's enough," Gail said, firmly. Stacie stopped hitting Beca but her face was still furious.

"I get back from my vacation, I turn on the news, and I see Beca running into a fucking collapsing building! And, of course, no one answers their fucking phones-"

"We were all here, Stacie," Jesse said, trying to reason with her. "Our phones are off."

"And I should have been here too!" Stacie replied. "I get to the hospital and they tell me what happened and... And I thought you'd..." She trailed off, her voice dissolving into sobs.

"Stace," Beca said, softly. "I'm okay. I'm still here." She held out her good hand and Stacie took it, sitting beside her much smaller friend.

"You're going to be the death of me, Mitchell," Stacie said, wiping her eyes on the back of her hand.

"She's going to be the death of all of us," Gail said, returning to her seat now the drama had ceased.

"Definitely," said Jesse, dropping into a seat by the door. "It's good to see you by the way," he added, smiling at Beca.

"Likewise," said Beca, smiling back. "Who gave you the shiner?"

"Uh," he said.

"You did," Gail said, laughing at Jesse's embarrassment.

"Shit," she said, "sorry dude. So, can I see Chloe yet?"

* * *

><p>"I just want to see her," Chloe said, impatiently.<p>

"She's recovering from surgery on her arm," her doctor said. "You can see her tomorrow."

"But-"

"You need to rest, Miss Beale," he said before leaving the room.

* * *

><p>"What room is she in?" Beca asked Jesse.<p>

"Why?" He said, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.

"Because I want to know where she is," Beca said, rolling her eyes. "Come on, it's not like I can go anywhere."

"Fine, she's in room 217," he said.

"Thank you," said Beca.

"Okay Mitchell, I'm outta here," Gail said, standing and stretching. "I'm exhausted. I'll pop by tomorrow some time."

"Okay," Beca replied. "Thanks again, boss."

"Don't mention it. I mean that, I don't want people finding out that I care," she said, winking.

"I'm gonna head too," Jesse said. "I've been here forever."

"Wait," Beca said, gesturing for him to come closer. "Thank you, Jesse."

"What for?" He asked.

"You got Chloe out of there," Beca replied. "I can't thank you enough."

"Anytime," said Jesse, patting her on her good arm. "Glad you're okay, Becs." He left leaving Beca alone with Stacie.

"I need your help, Stace," she said once the door had closed.

* * *

><p>Chloe was lying in bed, bored and frustrated and in pain, when her door opened and Beca came in, sitting in a wheelchair. How she managed to wheel herself in with only one working arm, Chloe would never know.<p>

"Hey," she said, smiling up at the redhead.

"Beca," Chloe practically whispered, her eyes filled with tears. "What are you doing here? They told me you needed to rest."

"Well, I snuck off with the help of Stacie," Beca said, smirking slightly as the tall brunette came in behind her, wheeling her bed. With some help from Aubrey, Stacie managed to lie the two beds side-by-side, lowering the two railings in the middle of them, essentially turning the two singles into a double. She helped Beca onto the bed and reattached all the necessary machines.

"What is going on in here?" Chloe and Beca's doctor said as he walked into the room.

"Beca Mitchell is being moved into 217," Stacie replied, matter-of-factly.

"What?" He said, looking down and checking his notes. "On whose authority?"

"On mine," Stacie said, staring him down.

"Dr. Conrad, with all due respect-"

"They aren't going to get any better if they aren't allowed to see each other," Stacie said, cutting him off. He opened his mouth to argue but one look from Stacie shut him off.

"Fine," he said, grumbling. "But if anything happens, on your head be it, Conrad." He left the room, still muttering.

"Thank you so much, Stace," Beca said, adjusting her position so she could face Chloe. She winced as she pulled on her cracked ribs.

"No worries," Stacie said, helping Beca move. "And remember you guys have morphine if you need it." She pressed a button attached to Beca's bed and a second later the brunette's features relaxed.

"Yay," she mumbled happily. Stacie and Chloe chuckled at her.

"Okay, I'm going to let you both get some rest," she said.

"Me too," Aubrey said, standing. "I'll see you tomorrow." They all said their goodbyes and left Beca and Chloe alone for the first time since they were in the building.

"Thank you," Chloe said, softly, her eyes full of tears. She reached out and brushed the hair from Beca's face.

"Come on, Chlo'," Beca said, closing her eyes at the contact. "I couldn't leave you in there."

"I was so scared," she said, still softly stroking her hair.

"I know," Beca replied, opening her eyes and inching herself closer to Chloe, knowing the redhead couldn't really move. "But we're out of it now."

"I didn't mean then," Chloe said. "I thought I'd lost you. I... I didn't think you were going to wake up."

"It was strange," Beca said, much closer to her now. "Every so often I would hear a muffled voice, but it was never strong enough to make me want to wake up. It's like when you're a kid and you wake up on Saturday morning, and you can hear your mom doing the housework downstairs, but it isn't loud enough to really wake you, you know? You kind of hear it, but you're still practically asleep." Chloe nodded, watching the brunette intently. "Well, that's what it was like. And then I heard you crying. Begging and shouting. And it was the first time the voices had any meaning to me. And I felt you squeeze my hand and it, like, pulled me up. Like I was drowning and then suddenly you pulled me to the surface." Beca closed the gap between them and brought their lips together. Once they broke apart their foreheads rested together as they breathed each other in. Clinging to each other as if scared they would be dragged apart again. "I love you," Beca said.

"I love you too," Chloe replied. They lay together, talking softly for the rest of the night. Beca's eyes were itching with tiredness and they finally began to close without her control. "Don't," Chloe mumbled, desperate to fall asleep herself.

"Don't what?" Beca asked, dragging her eyes open.

"Go to sleep," she said.

"Sorry," Beca said, forcing herself to stay awake. "Why?" She asked eventually.

"I'm scared you won't wake up," Chloe said, tired tears in her eyes.

"I'm not going anywhere, Chlo'," Beca said, kissing the redhead's shoulder, which was the closest thing to her. "I promise."

"Becs, I'm scared," Chloe said, crying softly now.

"I know," Beca mumbled. She took Chloe's hand and pressed it against her chest. "Can you feel that?" Chloe nodded. "I'm still here. And I'll still be here in the morning." She fell asleep a few seconds later, the morphine pulling her under. With her hand still resting on Beca's chest, feeling her heart beat beneath it, Chloe finally closed her eyes.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Sorry there's been such a delay on this chapter. I know where I want the story to go, and I know what drama I want to happen, I'm just having a little trouble tying it all in.**

**I do not own Pitch Perfect or any of its characters**

* * *

><p>After almost three weeks of being in the hospital, Beca and Chloe were both going crazy. Chloe hated being trapped in bed or in a wheelchair all day and the gruelling pain of physiotherapy wasn't much better. In her last session she had finally managed to take a few steps, Beca by her side cheering her on. Beca no longer had a cast on her arm but it was still painful to let it hang so most of the time it was in a sling. She also hadn't fully recovered from the smoke inhalation and got out of breath ridiculously quickly, so had to use an inhaler.<p>

"When can I get back to work?" Beca asked Gail one afternoon when she came to visit. Gail hesitated slightly before she spoke.

"Well it won't be until your arm's fully healed at least," she said. "You can't exactly save lives with one arm."

"I beg to differ," Beca said, smirking.

"I'm pretty sure that was the exception that proved the rule," Gail said. "But seriously Beca, the board want to meet with you."

"Why?" Beca asked, her smile dropping.

"They want to have a conversation with you about your future here," Gail said, a little sadly.

"Right," Beca said, suddenly feeling like she'd been slapped in the face.

"You're a good paramedic, Beca," Gail said. "But you can be a bit... reckless." Beca nodded in response. Gail had expected a fight or an argument about this, but Beca just sat back in bed, defeated. "I'm sorry."

* * *

><p>"So, how are we?" Their doctor asked the next morning as he came in to check on Chloe. Chloe was in bed and Beca was sat in the chair beside her.<p>

"When can we get out of here?" Beca asked. She was in a bad mood but still hadn't told Chloe about what Gail had said to her.

"Actually, that's what I've come here to talk about," he said. "Although Beca, you really should be in your room in bed." He looked down at his chart. "I am happy for you to both go home tomorrow. But, neither of you can be alone."

"But-" Beca began.

"No buts," he said. "You both need taking care of. Now, Chloe I know you have a room-mate, right?" Chloe nodded. "But Beca, Jesse told me you live alone."

"I'm gonna kill him," Beca muttered.

"I've spoken to your father, and he's happy for you to stay with him," the doctor said.

"You did what?" Beca asked, incredulously. True, her relationship had improved slightly with her dad, but there was no way she was about to move in with him. "No way, I'm not doing that."

"Then I'm afraid I can't let you go home," he said.

"You can't keep me here," Beca said, furious. "I'll discharge myself if I have to."

"Beca," Chloe said, placing her hand on Beca's arm, "it's okay. You can stay with me and Aubrey."

"Are you sure?" Beca asked, feeling the anger and frustration melt away at the sight of the smile on her face.

"Of course I'm sure," Chloe said, squeezing her arm.

"That's not really ideal," the doctor said, frowning slightly.

"I have a broken arm!" Beca said, annoyed. "I don't need babysitting."

"Fine," the doctor sighed before leaving the room.

"Thanks," Beca said to Chloe once they were alone again.

"No problem," Chloe replied, smiling.

"Aubrey's going to kill you," Beca said, smirking back.

"In case you hadn't noticed, Aubrey's your number one fan right now," Chloe said.

"Oh yeah?" Beca replied, eyebrows raised.

"Apart from me of course," Chloe said.

That night, Chloe wheeled herself into Beca's room.

"Hey," Beca said when she spotted her, a smile spreading across her face. "What are you doing here?"

"I couldn't sleep," she said bringing herself closer. "And I got the feeling you couldn't either."

"You should be in bed," Beca said, sitting up.

"You're always sneaking out to meet me," Chloe said.

"That's different," Beca said. Chloe eased herself up from her chair so she could perch on the edge of Beca's bed. She tried not to let the pain show in her face but Beca saw it. With the brunette's help, Chloe managed to lie down and get into a reasonably comfortable position.

"How come you can't sleep?" Beca asked, lying down carefully beside her.

"I've been thinking about that stupid fight we had," she said, taking Beca's arm and running her hands gently down the scar from her broken arm.

"I was such an idiot," Beca said. "I shouldn't have reacted like that. It just felt like everything was piling up, you know? And I was scared of dumping it all on you."

"Why were you scared?" Chloe asked.

"I didn't want to lose you," Beca said. "I didn't want you to think I was only with you because you listened to all my problems."

"I'd never think that," Chloe said. "But, for the record, I am sorry for pushing you. I should have seen you weren't ready to talk about it all. And I definitely shouldn't have left."

"Don't apologise," Beca said, changing her position slightly as her arm began to hurt.

"Well, from now on you don't have to talk about anything you aren't ready to talk about," Chloe said, easing Beca onto her side before turning over and pressing the smaller girl's back into her front. Beca was quiet for what felt like a long time. Chloe wondered if she'd fallen asleep when, finally, she spoke up. Her voice was slightly hesitant, as if she had been stealing herself to say this.

"I... I think," she said quietly. "I think I'm ready." She took a deep breath. "What do you want to know?"

"Why have you been in a bad mood since yesterday afternoon?" Chloe asked, playing with Beca's hair. Beca told Chloe about what Gail had said to her. "That sucks," Chloe said once she'd finished. "I'm really sorry, Beca."

"I can't do any other job," she said. "But even if they don't fire me, they'll want me to be more careful and I don't think I can do that. I can't knowingly take a step back from a situation if I know someone will die as a result of it."

"You can't save everyone," Chloe said.

"But I can't not try," Beca replied.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry for the delay! I didn't want to just write another filler chapter so I spent a bit more time on working out how to bring the drama forward. Anyway, here it is!**

**I do not own Pitch Perfect or any of its characters**

* * *

><p>After almost two weeks of living with Beca and Chloe in the same apartment, Aubrey was at her wit's end. Both girls were insanely stubborn and that didn't make helping them function any easier. Beca's arm was almost back to normal but she was still pretty much dependant on her inhaler if she wanted to walk for longer than a few minutes. And Chloe had come on amazingly well with her physio and could walk (with crutches) for about the same distance Beca could, before she'd need to stop, but still struggled with simple things like getting out of chairs.<p>

"Beca, I can do it!" She snapped one afternoon while trying to hoist herself up so she could use the bathroom.

"Shut up and let me help you," Beca replied, unphased by Chloe's tone.

"You're such a tiny pain in the ass," Chloe mumbled as Beca helped her to her feet.

"And I love you too," Beca said, handing Chloe her crutches. "Just yell when you're done."

"Yeah I won't be doing that," Chloe said, taking slow steps towards the bathroom.

"Then enjoy spending the whole day stuck in there," Beca said dropping back down onto the sofa, her chest hurting from the tiny amount of exertion. Both girls had made a pact that no matter how snappy they got with each other that they wouldn't take it personally. Beca heard a thud coming from the bathroom so Beca pulled herself from the sofa again and knocked on the door. "Need a hand?"

"Come in here and you're a dead woman," Chloe said from inside. Beca chuckled as she listened to Chloe muttering swear words under her breath. Eventually the door swung open and Chloe hobbled back to the sofa looking bad-tempered. "I'm so sick of this," she said.

"I know," Beca said, sitting beside her. "Me too."

"I just want to go back to work and get back to normal," she said.

"Yeah," Beca said, her voice quieter. "Me too." Beca was due to have her meeting with the board tomorrow afternoon. The meeting would determine whether or not she would still have a job to go back to.

"Shit," Chloe said softly, remembering. "I'm sorry, Becs. I didn't think."

"It's okay," Beca said, allowing herself to be pulled into the redhead's side.

"Look, they'd be total idiots if they fired you," she said, kissing the smaller girl's head.

"What if they do?" Beca said, voicing her fears for the first time.

"Then you can come and live here forever and be my trophy wife," Chloe said, causing Beca to laugh.

"I'll hold you to that, Beale," Beca said, smiling.

"Have you two stopped fighting then?" Aubrey asked, leaving her room.

"We were never fighting," Chloe said, shifting her position so there was room for Aubrey to sit by them.

"Whatever you say," Aubrey said, flicking on the TV.

* * *

><p>The next afternoon, Jesse came to pick her up to drive her to her meeting.<p>

"You'll be fine," Chloe said, smoothing out the creases on her white shirt.

"Uh huh," Beca responded, nerves coursing through her. Chloe gave her a quick kiss before Jesse beeped his horn again.

"I love you," Chloe said.

"Love you too," Beca replied.

Half an hour later and Beca was sitting at a table across from three board members and Gail.

"So, Ms Mitchell, we have called this meeting to discuss your future as a paramedic for this hospital. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir," Beca responded, her hands twisting in her lap slightly.

"First of all, we would just like to commend your actions at the university," he said. "You showed real bravery and your actions saved that woman's life."

"Thank you sir," Beca said, taking this as a good sign.

"However, we also have to talk about the fact that what you did could be considered extremely reckless and dangerous, and you endangered the lives of your colleagues who went in to rescue you," he said, gravely.

"Yes sir, I understand that, but-"

"And this isn't the first time you've done something like this, is it Ms Mitchell?" He said, cutting her off.

"No sir, but if-"

"In fact, looking at your records here, it says on your very first day you blatantly disregarded orders and put yourself at risk while talking down a suicidal woman. Is this correct?"

"Yes," Beca said, feeling panic rise in her again.

"And again, a year and a half later, you dived into the ocean to pull a child from a car, nearly killing yourself in the process," he said, looking down at her file. "In fact, there are dozens of these stories, Ms Mitchell, in which you consistently put yourself, and often your colleagues, in danger in order to save a patient, often doing a job that isn't yours."

"But what does it matter if I save their lives?" Beca said, growing impatient now.

"I'd like to bring your attention to your most recent bout of heroics, excluding the incident at Barden University," he said. "The car pile-up in which seven people died, including," he paused, bringing the file closer to his face so he could read it, "a seven-year-old girl. Talk us through that Ms Mitchell." Beca looked to Gail, feeling tears rise in her eyes.

"Is that really necessary?" Gail asked. "I mean, you have the written account in front of you." He held up his hand, silencing Gail.

"Ms Mitchell," he said, "please." Clearing her throat slightly, Beca recounted the story of what had happened to Maisy, her voice catching as she reached the part when the little girl had died. "So, in this incident, your attempted heroics didn't save this child's life?"

"No sir," Beca said, wiping the tears from her cheeks.

"And it, once again, caused you an injury as well as risking the life of a fellow paramedic?"

"Yes sir," Beca said, her eyes fixed on the table now, her voice defeated.

"And this time, if I am to believe what is written on the report, it caused you severe emotional distress, to the point where you had a panic attack and were unable to treat a patient, nearly costing him his life? Not to mention the three weeks paid leave that followed," he said. Beca couldn't speak so she just nodded.

"We know you are an excellent paramedic, Ms Mitchell," the woman beside the man said, her voice much kinder.

"Thank you," she said forcing herself to look up from the table.

"But the risks you have taken are beginning to outweigh the good you have been doing," she said. "If we are going to consider to allow you to carry on working, we need reassurance from you that these... acts, are a thing of the past."

"You're asking me whether I can take a step back and watch someone die?" Beca asked, her voice quiet but determined.

"We are asking if you can do your job without resorting to dramatic heroics, Ms Mitchell," the first man spoke, an edge to his voice now.

"If I am in a situation where someone is in trouble and I can help them, then I will help them," Beca said, looking at him. "No matter what the risk is."

"Are you saying you are unwilling to change your approach?" The woman asked? Beca paused, thinking.

"Yes," she said finally, shooting an apologetic look at Gail. "Yes, that's what I'm saying."

"Beca," Gail said softly, knowing the girl had just signed her own sentence.

"Then I'm afraid we have no choice but to terminate your contract, Ms Mitchell," the first man said.

"Wait a minute," Gail said, before being cut off.

"Should your attitude change, come back to us and we may reconsider your options." The three board members stood and left the room, leaving Gail alone with Beca.

"Fucking hell, Beca," she said with a sigh. Beca opened her mouth to speak but found she had no words, so closed it as she began to cry. "I'm really sorry," Gail said, moving around the table to hug the girl.

"What do I do?" Beca asked between sobs.

"I don't know," came Gail's reply.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Here's the latest my lovelies :)**

**I do not own Pitch Perfect or any of its characters.**

* * *

><p>Once the shock had given way to anger, Beca pushed herself up from the table and made her way outside, walking past Jesse who was waiting outside of the room.<p>

"Beca?" He called after her as she stormed past. He turned to Gail who just shook her head. "You're kidding?"

"I wish I was," Gail said, miserable. "Go make sure she's okay Jesse."

"Yeah," he said, taking off after her. "Beca, wait up!" He said, easily catching up to her.

"Go home, Jesse," Beca said, quickening her pace.

"No, I'm taking you home," he said.

"Please, Jess," she said, getting out of breath.

"Look, just stop, will you?" He said, his hand closing on her upper arm as he pulled her back. "I'm so sorry." She stopped walking and began trying to suck air into her useless lungs. "Use your inhaler." She shook her head. "Beca."

"I don't need it," she said, her breath rattling like someone who had smoked twenty cigarettes a day for the past forty years.

"Beca," he said, stern. She gave in and used it, feeling the tightness lessen almost immediately. "Come on, I'll drive you home." She wanted to argue but she couldn't fathom the energy so she just nodded.

Fifteen minutes later, he pulled up at Chloe and Aubrey's apartment and they both sat in the car for a few minutes, neither of them speaking.

"This is such bullshit," he said, eventually. "You're the best paramedic we have." Beca shook her head.

"I'm reckless," she said. "Reckless is dangerous." She opened the car door and climbed out, Jesse close behind her. She opened the apartment door and Aubrey and Chloe looked up as they entered.

"Well?" Chloe asked, searching both of their faces. Beca shook her head before going to their room, closing the door behind her. Chloe closed her eyes briefly. "Shit," she said. "Help me up." Aubrey stood and pulled Chloe to her feet and Jesse handed her her crutches. She made her way into the bedroom and sat on the end of the bed. "Do you want to talk about it?" She asked. Beca shook her head. "Okay," Chloe said before easing herself back onto the bed and lying beside her girlfriend. "Come here," she said. Beca rolled over without hesitation and curled herself into Chloe's side. "I know it feels like everything's gone to shit right now, and I know how much your job meant to you. But I promise you we'll figure something out. Things are going to be okay."

"Thank you," Beca said softly, finally allowing the tears to fall. They spent the next hour just lying together in silence. Beca could hear the steady rhythm of Chloe's heart beneath her and she was reminded of how much worse this situation could be. They were both still alive. They were both still together. "I love you," she said, shifting her position so she could kiss Chloe on the cheek.

"I love you too," Chloe replied, smiling as she turned her head to return the kiss.

"Do you guys want pizza?" Aubrey's voice came from the other side of the door. Chloe looked at Beca who nodded and smiled.

"Please, 'Bree," Chloe said. Beca helped Chloe sit up before easing her off the bed and helping her into the living room.

"Everything okay?" Aubrey asked as Chloe and Beca sat beside her.

"Not yet," said Chloe, glancing at Beca. "But they will be, right?"

"Right," Beca said, finally feeling slightly positive about the situation.

They were halfway through a movie that evening when Beca's phone rang. She looked and saw her dad's name flashing on the screen. She groaned before she pulled herself from the sofa and answered the phone.

"Hey dad," she said before disappearing into the bedroom.

"So, how's she doing?" Aubrey asked once the door closed.

"Not great, understandably," Chloe said, sinking back into the sofa, frowning. "What happened in there, Jesse?"

"I dunno, I wasn't allowed in," he said. "From what I gathered, they asked if she was prepared to stop being so... heroic. She said no and they fired her."

"She told me that's what she'd say," Chloe said with a sigh.

"She's never going to change what kind of paramedic she is," he said. "And she shouldn't. I mean sure, it's risky, but I can't count the number of people who would have died if she hadn't taken the risk."

"Me included," Chloe said. They heard Beca's raised voice coming from the bedroom.

"Jesus, dad, will you stop yelling at me?" Beca said, pacing the bedroom, her free hand rubbing her tightening chest.

"What am I supposed to say, Beca?" He replied, just as angry. "You got fired because you couldn't tone down your need to be the hero!"

"It's not like that!" Beca replied.

"It seems to me that you're just quitting again," he said.

"What?" Beca asked.

"Well, first you drop out of med school," he said. "Now this."

"How many times dad, I couldn't do med school, okay? It was too hard," Beca said, finding it even harder to breathe. She reached into her pocket for her inhaler before realising she'd left it in the living room.

"You could have stuck with it," he said, oblivious to his daughter's current distress. "I mean, it was your dream, Beca."

"No," she said, fighting to stay calm, "it was your dream."

"Now you're just being childish," he said.

"I can't do this now, dad, okay?" She said, stopping her pacing so she could clutch the edge of the bed to steady herself.

"Well when will we do it, Beca? Or are you going to bury your head in the sand again like you do with everything else?" He said.

"When I was in the hospital," Beca said, practically wheezing now, "you said you were proud of me." She was met with a silence.

"I was," he said, the emphasis on _was_.

"Fuck you," she said, hanging up and letting the phone slip from her hand and hit the floor. She tried to take a step towards the living room but her vision swam and her legs buckled. She hit the ground with a thud.

Upon hearing the noise from the bedroom, Jesse was on his feet and in the room in seconds. Beca had pushed herself up onto all fours. Her arms were shaking with the strain of holding herself up and they gave way just as Jesse leapt forward to catch her.

"Where's your inhaler?" He asked, easing her into a sitting position.

"Living room," she said her chest heaving. "Coffee table." He ran and got it and was back in seconds. After a few puffs on it she felt the tension leave her chest and her breathing returned to normal. Jesse gently rubbed her back and waited for a sign she was okay.

"Better?" He asked. She nodded, giving him a weak smile.

"Thanks," she said. She saw Chloe enter on her crutches, clearly furious that she couldn't move any quicker, followed by Aubrey.

"What happened?" She asked, sitting on the bed. With Jesse's help, Beca sat beside her, still gingerly rubbing her chest.

"My dad is an asshole and he got me worked up," Beca said. As if on cue, her phone buzzed on the floor as her dad called again. "Ignore it." She rubbed her eyes with the palms of her hands, clearly exhausted.

"If you're sure you're okay, we'll leave you to get some rest," Jesse said.

"I'm fine, thanks Jesse," she said. He left the room with Aubrey. Chloe tried to stand but she felt Beca's hand close around her arm. "Will you stay?"

"Of course," Chloe said. They changed into baggy t-shirts and climbed into bed. Beca noticed the tears that were pooling in Chloe's eyes.

"What is it?" She asked.

"What if Jesse hadn't have been here?" She said, her voice catching in her throat. "Beca what if that happens again and I can't get to you because of my stupid legs? You could have..." She trailed off, unable to voice her biggest fear.

"Hey," Beca said, softly, brushing the tears from her cheeks. "I'm okay. I promise I'll be more careful from now on. I'll always have my inhaler with me, even if I'm just leaving the room."

"Promise?" Chloe asked.

"Promise," Beca replied, smiling and kissing her girlfriend.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Sorry for the big delay buddies. Real life got in the way again. But I'm back now :)**

**I do not own Pitch Perfect or any of its characters**

* * *

><p>"I never wanted to be a doctor you know," Beca said that night as they both lay awake.<p>

"No?" Chloe asked, surprised. She shifted her weight so she was lying on her side, propped up on one arm. Beca mirrored her position. "What did you want to be?"

"A DJ," Beca said, slightly embarrassed.

"Seriously?" Chloe asked. Beca nodded, looking down. "That's so cool." Beca's eyes shot back up.

"What?"

"DJing is super cool," Chloe said.

"You said that about being a paramedic," Beca said, rolling her eyes and smirking.

"Everything you do is super cool," Chloe said, grinning back. "How come you ended up being a paramedic?"

"Dad always said that DJing wasn't a profession, unless you were really really good," Beca said. "He kept on at me to figure out a proper career. Then... Then when I was 14 Mom died." Her voice faltered slightly.

"How did she die?" Chloe asked. She rolled over so she was lying on her front, her back had started hurting.

"Car accident," Beca said, blinking back tears as she ran her hand along Chloe's back, her fingers brushing across the scar. "She got trapped in the car and the paramedics couldn't get to her. She bled to death."

"Jesus, Beca," Chloe said. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah. I guess that's where my hero thing comes from. I told dad I wanted to do a job that could help people. He said music couldn't help anyone-" Chloe cut her off with an angry huff.

"That's such bullshit," Chloe said, furious. Beca gave her a small smile.

"I know," she said, "but there's no telling my dad. He said maybe I should think about being a doctor. So I worked really hard, got into med-school, flunked out and ended up being a paramedic. Dad was so angry when I dropped out. He didn't speak to me for months."

"He seemed so proud of you in the hospital," Chloe said.

"Yeah," Beca said, sadly. "I thought maybe things were starting to get better with us. But I think he was just scared I was about to die or something."

"Maybe you should talk to him," Chloe said, shifting so she was now lying on her back, allowing Beca to rest her head on her chest. She thought for a minute. She didn't want to speak to him but she couldn't shake the memory of how relieved she was when she saw that her dad wasn't in the building collapse. "I'm going into work tomorrow, they've given me a temporary office. Why don't you come with me and you can speak to him?"

"Yeah. Yeah okay," Beca said.

* * *

><p>The next morning Beca helped Chloe into her car before moving to the driver's seat. Chloe was still unable to drive so Beca was doing it for her. After helping Chloe to her temporary office, Beca made her way to her dad's. She tentatively knocked on the door.<p>

"Come in," he said from the other side. She pushed the door open and stepped inside. "Beca?"

"We need to talk," she said. He gestured to the chair opposite his desk.

"Have you come to apologise?"

"No," Beca said, her left hand slipped under her right sleeve and she began running it over the scar. "But I do want to settle things between us. When I was in hospital it felt like things were getting back on track. You said you were proud."

"I was," he said.

What followed was a repeat of the conversation they had had on the phone, with Beca getting more and more worked up.

"You know what?" She said, rubbing her chest slightly. "Forget it. I wanted to fix this but I don't think we can."

"Maybe not," he said, sitting back in his chair with a sigh. Beca swallowed slightly. She had expected some kind of argument. Some sign to show her that her dad still cared.

"Fine," she said, her voice no more than a whisper. As she left the office she pushed back the urge to cry. Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she saw that Chloe was calling her. "Hey," she said, trying to keep the shake from her voice.

"B-Beca," Chloe said, her voice trembling much worse than Beca's.

"Chlo'? What's going on?"

"I... I can't-" Chloe stammered. Beca could hear Chloe fighting to catch her breath.

"Are you still in your office?" Beca asked, heading in that direction.

"Yes," she said.

"I'm on my way," Beca said before hanging up and practically running there. After a few puffs on her inhaler, Beca pushed the door to Chloe's office open and saw the redhead was sitting on her chair, her arms wrapped tightly around herself as she desperately tried to suck in air. Beca rushed over to her and took her hands. "Chlo', look at me." Chloe's frantic eyes found Beca's. "Just take deep breaths, okay?"

"Can't," Chloe said.

"You can," Beca said. She took Chloe's hand and held it against her chest. "Just like this." Beca took a few deep breaths and eventually Chloe began to mirror her. "There you go," Beca said softly. "You're okay."

"Don't let go," she said, blinking back tears.

"I won't," Beca said, squeezing her hands. "What happened?"

"I heard a bang from upstairs and I just... I don't know, I panicked. It was like being stuck in that room again," Chloe said. "It's stupid, I know."

"It's not stupid," Beca said. "It's terrifying. It's like someone's sitting on your chest while you're stuck in some nightmare." Chloe's tear filled eyes found Beca.

"It... It used to happen to you too, didn't it?" Chloe asked. Beca nodded. "When will it stop?"

"When I find out, I'll tell you," Beca said, still staring into Chloe's eyes, searching for a sign that she was okay. "Better?" Chloe nodded.

"How did it go with your dad?" Chloe asked.

"Pretty terrible," Beca replied. "I think... I think we're done, me and him."

"I'm sure that's not true," Chloe said.

"No, it is," Beca said, moving so she was sitting on the seat beside Chloe instead of crouching in front of her. "But it's okay."

"Beca,"

"Okay, it's not okay. But it will be," she said, trying her best to smile. "Come on, let's go home."

"I can't," Chloe said. "I have students to see. But you go, I'll be fine."

"Chlo' you just had a panic attack. I'm not gonna leave you," Beca said, sitting back in her chair. Chloe opened her mouth to argue but Beca cut her off. "When you're with a student, I'll wait outside." Chloe closed her mouth and grinned.

"Thank you," she said.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Sorry for the delay again :( I'm also sorry that this is such a short chapter, but I am building to something pretty big.**

**Thank you everyone for sticking with me so far :)**

**I do not own Pitch Perfect or any of its characters**

* * *

><p>Sitting with Chloe in her new office became something of a habit for Beca over the next couple of weeks. She had started working on music again and the relative calm of Chloe's office was a good a place as any to do it. Plus there was the added bonus of being there for Chloe if she had another panic attack.<p>

"Babe?" Chloe said one afternoon, pulling Beca away from her laptop.

"Yeah?" Beca asked, taking off her headphones.

"I have a student coming in ten," she said.

"Okay, I'll make myself scarce. I'll pick us up some lunch or something," Beca said, saving her mix and closing her laptop.

"Awesome," Chloe said, smiling as Beca came and kissed her on the top of the head.

"Don't forget to get up and walk about at some point," Beca said, swinging her bag over her shoulder. "You'll do your back no favours by sitting down all day."

"Yes mother," Chloe said, rolling her eyes but smiling still.

"Don't sass me, Beale," Beca said, grinning as she left the room.

When she returned an hour later, Beca was in a noticeably bad mood. Chloe watched her as they ate their sandwiches.

"What's up?" Chloe asked eventually.

"Nothing," Beca said, picking at her food. Chloe continued watching, knowing Beca would speak when she was ready. "I applied for a paramedic job at another hospital."

"And?" Chloe asked, surprised by this.

"They'd heard of me," Beca said, miserably. "And they said they couldn't take the risk."

"I'm sorry, Becs," Chloe said.

"And to top it off," Beca said, "I'm getting kicked out of my apartment."

"What? Why?"

"I can't afford the rent. I haven't worked since the whole... incident," Beca said, resting her head on her arms. "Everything sucks." Chloe laughed slightly as she moved to sit beside Beca, putting her arm around her shoulder.

"I know it does," Chloe said. "Look, you're already living with me and Aubrey. Why don't we just make it a permanent thing?" Beca looked up.

"For serious?" She asked.

"Yeah, for serious," Chloe said.

"But I don't have a job," she said. "I can't help with rent or anything."

"Becs, it's fine."

"I don't want to be a mooch," Beca said.

"You're not a mooch, you're my girlfriend," Chloe said. Beca opened her mouth to protest but Chloe cut her off. "Discussion's over. You're moving in properly."

"Bossy," Beca said, unable to stop her grin.

* * *

><p>"Is that the last box unpacked?" Chloe asked, as she added the last of Beca's clothes to her wardrobe.<p>

"Yep," Beca said, moving and wrapping her arms around the redhead's waist. She gave her a quick kiss on the back of the head before leaving the room.

"Where are you going?" Chloe called after her.

"Bathroom," Beca responded.

"Why is your inhaler lying on the bed?"

"It's tired," Beca said, smirking as she hovered in the doorway.

"Beca," Chloe said, frowning.

"I'm only going to the bathroom, Chlo'," Beca said, trying not to roll her eyes.

"You promised," Chloe said, eyebrows raised.

"Fine," Beca sighed, taking the object and slipping it into her pocket. "Better?"

"Much," Chloe said, grinning again as she made her way into the living room.

Early next morning, Beca was woken up by the sound of her phone vibrating against the bedside table.

"Hello?" She said sleepily, bringing the offending object to her ear.

"Good morning, is this Beca Mitchell?" A chirpy male voice said.

"What? Who wants to know?" Beca asked, rubbing her eyes as she sat up in bed.

"My name is Benjamin Applebaum and I work for Channel 6 news," he said.

"Okay..." Beca said, still not sure what was going on.

"We featured your daring rescue of your girlfriend a few months ago, and we were wondering if you'd be interested in giving us an update on how things are?"

"Uh... I mean, I guess?" Beca said, shrugging at the puzzled look Chloe was giving her.

"Fantastic!" He said, causing Beca to jump and momentarily move the phone away from her ear. "So how are you and your girlfriend recovering?"

"We're both good," she said, still trying to wrap her head around what was happening.

"And your job?" He asked. Beca hesitated.

"Um, I'm not... I don't... I'm no longer at my job," Beca said, rubbing the back of her neck.

"You left?" He asked.

"I... I was... Let go," Beca said, trying to find the right words.

"You were fired?!" He said, sounding even more excited. Beca sighed.

"Yes," she said. She felt Chloe begin to gently rub her back. "My recklessness made me a liability."

"Oh this is brilliant," he said.

"I'm sorry?" Beca asked, annoyed.

"No, not brilliant!" He said, panicked now. "No, I mean... It'll make a good story. Obviously for you it's terrible. Anyway, thank you for your time, Miss Mitchell. If the producer likes it, we may run this on the seven o'clock news tonight. Do we have your permission to do that?" Beca looked at Chloe, who could hear the loud conversation and the redhead nodded eagerly.

"I guess," Beca said.

"Excellent! Thank you!" And he hung up. Beca and Chloe were left staring at each other, dumbfounded.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: I once again apologise for the delay (my bad!)**

**Thank you to everyone still reading and still reviewing at to all the new and old favouriters and followers. I love each and every one of you.**

**I do not own Pitch Perfect or any of its characters.**

* * *

><p>The next night, Beca, Chloe, Aubrey and Jesse were all crowded into the three girls' living room, watching the seven o'clock news.<p>

The chirpy female anchor grinned broadly as the camera cut to her.

"Now," she said, her white teeth gleaming. "I'm sure we all remember a few months ago, that amazing news story of the paramedic who ran into a collapsing building to save a young woman trapped." The camera cut to footage of Beca sprinting towards the building, Jesse hot on her heels. "It turned out that there was even more to this story than was first thought as the young woman trapped inside was paramedic Beca Mitchell's girlfriend." The four friends audibly groaned as the Beca on-screen kicked Jesse in the face, sending him stumbling backwards.

"Sorry dude," Beca said, half grinning. "But it was your own fault."

"Yeah, how come you tried to stop her saving me?" Chloe said, grinning too.

"Yeah, Jesse. What's that about?" Aubrey said, joining in.

"Shut up," Jesse said, trying to disguise his grin.

They all fell silent as they saw Jesse begin to climb down the ladder, Chloe slung over his shoulder. Beca gripped Chloe's hand tightly. Soon after, Gail began the slow climb down, Beca over her shoulder. Beca jumped slightly when the fire tore through the window above them. She hadn't realised how close she had been to burning to death with Gail.

"Amazing, right?" The news anchor said as the camera cut back to her. "Well we thought so too, so we decided to catch up with the pint-sized hero, and-"

"Pint-sized?!" Beca said, outraged as her friends laughed.

"Isn't that right Benji?" She said, turning to the young man who had joined her at her desk.

"That's right. I got in touch with Beca and asked her how she and her girlfriend were doing. While Beca said that both were recovering well, she also mentioned that she was no longer a paramedic," Benji said. Beca recognised his voice as the man who had called her yesterday morning. "In fact, Beca Mitchell was dismissed not long after this daring rescue because she was "too much of a liability"," he said, using air-quotes.

"Well, that is a surprise. What do you think of that, viewers? A courageous young paramedic is fired from her job for bending-" Beca had switched the TV off.

"She's making me out to be some kind of hero," Beca said.

"Well, you kind of are," Jesse said, wondering why she was upset about it.

"I shouldn't have talked to that Benji kid," she said. "It looks like I'm trying to sell my story or something. Or make it look like I'm trying to force the board to give me my job back."

"But wouldn't that be a good thing?" Jesse asked.

"I want my job back because I'm a good paramedic, not because I went running to the media," she said, a dull ache rising in her chest.

"It's okay, Becs," Chloe said, noticing her girlfriend's discomfort. "I'm sure after tonight it'll just be forgotten. You know how these news stories are."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Beca said, smiling slightly. "Sorry."

"It's okay," Chloe said, squeezing her hand. She switched the TV back on and they all fell back into a comfortable silence, occasionally commenting and making jokes on what they were watching.

* * *

><p>Things didn't get forgotten, however. Beca's story was brought up every night, each time a new addition. One of her colleagues would speak about her, or someone she had gone out of her way to help would tell their story.<p>

Beca wasn't sure why but the whole thing made her uncomfortable. People talking about her on TV like she was a hero. It just didn't sit right with her. And to top it off, she'd received a very annoyed voicemail from her dad a week after the first broadcast.

"So this is your big plan, Beca? Cause a fuss on local TV to try to force the board to give you your job back? Even I thought you had more sense than that."

Benji had begun calling her daily, trying to get another statement from her, but she always avoided his calls. Eventually, she gave in and spoke to him.

"Look, all this stuff about me being a hero, it's a load of crap," she said, pacing the room. "I was just an ordinary paramedic who didn't follow protocol and risked the lives of my colleagues in the process, okay?"

"Come on, Beca," Benji said, laughing on the other end of the line. "I get that you're trying to be humble or whatever, but you must know that you went above and beyond for the patients you saved."

"And what about the ones I didn't save?" Beca said, furious now. There was a silence on the other end.

"Are you talking about the pile-up on route 180?" He said, the laughter gone from his voice.

"How did you know about that?" She asked, her voice quieter.

"It's my job to know," he said with a sigh.

"It's not just the pile-up. When I ran into that building I nearly killed myself, my girlfriend and my two colleagues," she said, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"But your girlfriend would definitely have died without your intervention," he pointed out.

"I know," Beca said. "And I'm happy to risk my life. But you saw the footage, a second longer and my boss would have been killed, trying to get to me."

"Have you ever thought that maybe they're happy to risk their lives for you in the same way you're happy to risk your own for them?" He asked.

"That's stupid," Beca said, her brows furrowing. She couldn't understand why they would do that. There was another silence, eventually broken by a small sigh from Benji.

"Okay Beca," he said. "I'll try to put an end to the story."

"Thank you," she said, before hanging up.

That night, Beca was relieved to see that her face wasn't plastered all over the screen when they watched the seven o'clock news.

"I know you'll probably get mad at me for saying this," Chloe said as they lay in bed that night, "but you're still my hero."

"I can live with being your hero," she said, smiling at her girlfriend. "Especially considering you're mine."

* * *

><p>Once again, Beca was woken early the next morning by her phone. This time, it was Gail calling her.<p>

"Hello?" She said, quickly leaving the room so she didn't wake Chloe.

"Hi Beca," Gail said. "The board wants to meet with you again. Can you come in this afternoon? About 12?"

"Uh, yeah sure," Beca said, suddenly nervous. "Do you know what it's about?"

"I think it's about all the news coverage recently. It didn't make them look very good," she said.

"Shit," Beca said dropping onto the couch.

"As far as I can see you haven't done anything wrong," Gail said. "So don't let them intimidate you or anything, okay?"

"Yeah, okay," Beca said. "Thanks Gail." After she hung up, she didn't return to the bedroom, but soon heard the sound of Chloe leaving the bedroom. She could walk pretty comfortably with only one crutch now, and was soon sitting beside her.

"Everything okay?" She asked.

"The board want to meet with me again," Beca said.

"Well that can only be a good thing, right? I mean, it's not like they can fire you again?" Chloe said.

"What if they want to sue me for like... slander or something?" Beca said, chewing her lip nervously. Chloe laughed.

"Slander? Becs, you haven't said anything that wasn't true," she said.

"I guess," Beca said, still looking nervous. "You have physio today, right?"

"Yeah, at 12," she said.

"Cool, I'll take you in and then go for my meeting, then we can go get coffee or something?"

"Sounds great," Chloe said, kissing he on the cheek before heading off to get ready.

* * *

><p>"So... So what are you saying?" Beca asked, staring at the three board members, her heart thumping.<p>

"We are saying that, providing you pass the medical and are fit for work, we would like to offer you your job back," the man in the middle said, his smile a little too fixed.


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: I am so so sorry it has taken me so long to update. Real life keeps interfering and ruining my lovely fictional bubble.**

**I do not own Pitch Perfect or any of its characters**

* * *

><p>Early the next morning, Beca waited patiently as Stacie finished giving her her medical.<p>

"Well?" Beca asked when Stacie had finally finished. "Can I go back to work?" Stacie hesitated.

"Your arm is fine," she said. "Your lungs are about as good as they're going to get but as long as you keep your inhaler with you, you shouldn't have a problem."

"Why do you look like you're giving me bad news?" Beca asked, jumping down from the edge of the bed.

"Because you almost died, and I'm worried," she said. "I want you to be more careful, Beca."

"I will be," Beca said, her eyes fixed on her shoes.

"Look at me," she said. With a sigh she looked up and met Stacie's stare. "Promise me."

"I promise I'll be more careful. But I'm not changing the kind of paramedic I am."

"I guess that's as good as I'm going to get, isn't it?" Stacie said, finally smiling. "Here, give this to Gail and you'll be good to go." She signed a form and handed it to Beca.

After finishing up with Stacie, she headed straight for the ambulance station. As she entered the building she bumped into a girl who had her head down, struggling to zip up her fluorescent paramedic jacket.

"Sorry!" She said as she looked up and saw Beca. She looked familiar but Beca couldn't place her. "Oh my god, it's you! You're Beca Mitchell!"

"Uh, that's right," Beca said a little shocked.

"You probably don't remember me," she said, still smiling. "But you talked me down from a window ledge once."

"Holy shit, I knew I recognised you!" Beca said. "You're Haley, right?"

"Yes!" She said, excited that Beca remembered her. "I've spent the last two years training and I'm about to start my first shift."

"Dude, that's awesome," Beca said. She helped the girl straighten out her jacket so it would zip properly.

"You inspired me," Haley said, blushing slightly. "I want to be the same kind of paramedic you are."

"That's great, Haley," Beca said. "But be careful, okay? And try not to disobey too many orders, or they'll come after me." Haley laughed.

"Okay," she said.

"Alright, newbie!" A voice said from behind her. She turned to see Jesse standing there, a grin on his face. "Ready for your first shift?"

"Yes sir," Haley said. "See you later, Beca." She rushed off towards the ambulance.

"So did you get the okay from Stacie?" Jesse asked. Beca grinned and nodded. "Nice one, Becs."

"What time does your shift finish?" Beca asked.

"7pm I think," he said. "So I'll probably see you tonight."

"Cool," she said.

"Well, I'd better go. Don't want to keep the newbie waiting," he said before heading off.

"Be nice to her," Beca said. "She's my number one fan."

"I'm always nice," he called back as he climbed into the ambulance.

She knocked on Gail's office door.

"Come in," Gail called. "Ahh the hero returns." She smirked. Beca rolled her eyes as she handed over the form Stacie had given her.

"Don't start," Beca said, taking a seat.

"This all looks in order," Gail said, glancing down the paper. "Glad to have you back Mitchell."

* * *

><p>"What do you want to do tonight?" Beca asked, as she curled up against Chloe on the sofa.<p>

"I dunno," Chloe replied, smiling as Beca's head rested on her chest. Her girlfriend's mood had improved considerably since finding out that she had her job back the day before. "I think Jesse's taking Aubrey out when he's finished his shift so we have the place to ourselves. I suggest we take advantage of that."

"Good idea," Beca said, smirking. She began placing gentle kisses on the redhead's collarbone. She slowly trailed kisses up her neck. Her phone buzzing on the table forced her to stop. "God dammit." She mumbled. She saw Stacie's name flashing on the screen.

"Hello?" She said, trying to keep her frustration out of her voice.

"Beca," Stacie said, her voice shaking. "You need to get to the hospital now. Aubrey too."

"What is it?" Beca asked, her stomach twisting.

"It's Jesse. He's... It isn't good, Becs. Get here as soon as you can."

Beca, Aubrey and Chloe arrived at the hospital to find Stacie waiting for them, pacing the corridor. Her eyes were red and tears had made tracks down her face. Beca felt herself grind to a halt but Chloe's firm hand on her back kept her moving.

"What happened?" Beca asked, her quiet voice full of fear.

"The trainee paramedic he was with ran into a burning building to get to someone who was trapped. Jesse went in after her," Stacie said. "Just as she got out, the whole building came down."

"Jesse got out though, right?" Beca said. She heard Aubrey break beside her. The corridor filled with the sound of her sobs.

"No, Becs. He didn't," Stacie said. Beca felt Chloe's arm leave her as she moved to comfort Aubrey. "He's... Beca, he didn't make it." Aubrey's cries grew louder.

"That's not possible," Beca said, anger flooding through her. She couldn't believe Stacie would lie to her like this. "Jesse's not... He can't be..."

"I'm so sorry," Stacie said, reaching out to touch her arm. Beca pulled away from her.

"This is bullshit," she said. Gail entered the corridor, tears in her eyes. "Gail, can you tell Stacie that this is ridiculous?" Gail shook her head and that's all that Beca needed to know that Stacie wasn't lying. That Jesse really was gone. "No," she said softly.

"I'm sorry Beca," Gail said. Beca pulled away from her too. Her heart was pounding as she tried to fathom what had happened. It just didn't make sense to her. She had seen him only a few hours earlier and the realisation that she wouldn't see him again began seeping into her. She began pacing the corridor, her breathing getting faster. This couldn't be happening. It couldn't be real. With a shout of pain that seemed to come from nowhere, Beca slammed her fist into the nearest wall. Before she could do it again both Gail and Stacie grabbed her and pulled her back.

"Let go," she said, fighting to pull herself from their grasp. Reluctantly they released her and she headed for the door.

"Beca," Chloe called, detaching herself from Aubrey and struggling to catch up to her.

"Go be with Aubrey," Beca said, slowing down enough so Chloe could catch her without hurting herself.

"I'm not leaving you alone," Chloe said.

"Aubrey needs you," Beca said, nodding towards the blonde who was sitting, crying on the floor.

"You need me too," Chloe said, brushing a tear from her cheek. A particularly loud cry from Aubrey caused Chloe to drop her hand.

"Go," Beca said, as Chloe looked back at her friend. In the second it took Chloe to hesitate, Beca had left.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I'm sorry for what I have done...**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: I do not own Pitch Perfect or any of its characters**

* * *

><p>After the excruciatingly painful task of identifying Jesse's body, Chloe took Aubrey home. She made her a mug of tea which was left untouched, and a double whisky which Aubrey drank in one mouthful.<p>

"What do I do, Chlo'?" She asked between sobs as Chloe helped her change for bed.

"I don't know," Chloe said, planting a kiss on her best friend's forehead. "But I'm going to be here with you through it all."

"You have to help Beca too," she said, her tears subsiding enough to realise that the brunette wasn't there.

"Yeah," Chloe said, feeling a rush of guilt that she didn't go after her. She climbed onto the bed beside Aubrey and sat with her has her friend slowly cried herself to sleep. Everything had happened so quickly, she couldn't quite believe that only a few days ago they were all sitting together, watching TV and cracking jokes. Only a few hours ago she was curled up with her girlfriend as they planned their evening. Now... Everything was wrong now. Her best friend had just lost her boyfriend. She had lost a friend. Her girlfriend had lost her best friend and was now nowhere to be found. The loss of Jesse began to sink in and she allowed herself a moment to grieve, knowing that for the next few months, she had to be strong for both girls.

* * *

><p>Beca wasn't sure where she was walking, or how long she had been walking for. The ache in her legs and her lungs gave her head something to focus on. She forced herself to carry on walking so the pain of losing Jesse couldn't break through. Her hand was throbbing from when she'd punched the wall and she kept clenching it, causing pain to shoot up her arm. She ignored the constant buzzing of her phone and felt a spasm of guilt knowing that Chloe would be worried. But she couldn't think about that now. She focused on the burning in her legs as she pushed on.<p>

She reached a bridge that overlooked an eerily calm river running beneath it. She wasn't intending to stop. She didn't want to look at something so calm and force herself to think. She didn't want to stop moving. But she couldn't walk past the lone figure standing there, every so often taking a swig from what looked like a bottle of vodka. It was Haley.

"What are you doing out here?" Beca asked, coming to stand beside her.

"Thinking," Haley said. "Or trying not to think. You?"

"Same," Beca said. "May I?" she held out her hand to take the bottle from Haley, who passed it to her. "Thanks," she said swallowing a decent amount. She went to hand it back but Haley shook her head.

"Keep it," she said. She glanced at Beca's hand. "What did you do?"

"Punched a wall," Beca said, drinking again. She tried to work out if she was angry with Haley.

"I'm so sorry, Beca," Haley said. "I know you were close with Jesse."

"He's my best friend," she took another drink, the tears in her eyes burning almost as much as the vodka burned her throat. "He _was_ my best friend," she corrected herself. "But this wasn't your fault."

"He died saving me," Haley said. "You're allowed to hate me."

"I don't hate you," Beca said, truthfully.

"I shouldn't have ran in there," Haley said, crying now. "I just wanted to be like you so bad." That hit Beca so hard she almost took a step back. That's why she wasn't mad at Haley, because this was her fault. Earlier in the day, Haley told her she wanted to be a paramedic like she was, and Beca didn't discourage her. And now it was too late. Beca's recklessness had finally gotten someone killed, and it was her best friend who paid the price. She thought of all the people who now had to deal with the loss of Jesse. Haley would forever blame herself, no matter how many people told her it wasn't her fault. Aubrey, who should be planning her future with him, was now faced with a future without him. His parents and younger sister, whom he adored. His colleagues. And Beca. How was she supposed to carry on knowing this was her fault? The crushing weight of it all was almost enough to make her throw herself into the calm water below.

"Beca?" Haley said, breaking her thoughts. "Jesus." Beca looked down to see that she had clenched her fist so tight she had shattered the bottle in her hand. Blood was dripping through her fingers.

"It's fine," she said, pulling her hand away from Haley. "Go home, okay? Go see your parents or your friends or partner or someone. Don't spend tonight alone. This wasn't your fault, I promise you."

"What about you?" Haley said, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. "Where are you gonna go?"

"Don't worry about me," Beca said.

"Can I at least get the glass out of your hand?" She said. Beca saw the concern and need to help in her eyes and decided to let her. She took a seat on the kerb and held out her hand. She watched as Haley meticulously but gently pulled the shards of glass from her hand. "You should go to the hospital. Some of them need stitches."

"Go home, kid," she said. Haley gave her a sad smile before standing up and leaving. Beca's phone buzzed in her pocket again and this time she decided to answer it.

"Beca," Chloe breathed out with relief when she answered. "Where are you?"

"I don't know," Beca replied. "Some bridge in town."

"Why are you near a bridge?" Chloe asked, her voice filled with a forced calmness.

"I'm not going to throw myself off Chlo'," Beca said.

"Will you come home?" Chloe asked.

"In a bit," Beca said, forcing herself to her feet so she could start walking again. The pain was ebbing away and thoughts and feelings were starting to rush in.

"Please, Becs," Chloe said. "I just need to hold you."

"Chlo'-"

"Beca I need to see that you're still here. That you're still breathing and that your heart's still beating." Beca could hear the strain in Chloe's voice as she tried to keep it together. "And I know you need me too." Beca stopped walking.

"I do," she said, all the fight and energy leaving her. "I really do."

"I'm coming to get you," Chloe said.

"You can't drive yet," Beca said. "I'll call a cab."

About half an hour later Beca opened the door and was immediately pulled into Chloe's arms. She froze for a second before she gripped Chloe back. The blood from her hand soaked into Chloe's shirt. She fought to keep her tears at bay but after a few seconds in Chloe's arms she felt her knees give way as the pain slammed into her like a truck. Chloe slowly lowered her to the ground.

"It's okay, Becs," she said.

"I fucking killed him," Beca said through choked sobs. "I killed him."

"Stop that," Chloe said, firmly. "That won't bring him back and it won't help you get through this. You didn't kill him and this wasn't your fault." Beca didn't answer.

_It is my fault_, she thought.


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: Thank you so much to all reviewers/readers/followers/favouriters! You guys are amazing and I love you.**

**I wanted your opinion on something. If I made a tumblr for this fanfic account, would you be interested/follow that?**

**I do not own Pitch Perfect or any of its characters.**

* * *

><p>Beca woke up the next morning and had a brief moment of pure happiness and contentment. She could feel the warmth radiating from Chloe who was pressed into her back and the sun was just beginning to peek through the curtains.<p>

Then she remembered.

The pain throbbing from her hastily bandaged hand was nothing compared to the ache that began spreading from her chest.

The pain she felt was suddenly verbalised by a wail of agony and misery coming from Aubrey's room. She felt Chloe tense around her.

"Go," Beca said. "She needs you." Chloe kissed the back of her head before she climbed off the bed and out of the room, her hand gripping the crutch she still needed to walk.

Beca rolled over onto her back as she heard the muffled sounds of Chloe trying to calm and console her friend. She watched as the outside world caused shadows and lights to move across the room. She closed her eyes and willed herself to fall asleep again so she could disappear. So she could forget.

But of course that didn't happen, so she decided to get up.

But she couldn't do that either. It was like someone was sitting on her chest, pinning her to the bed. She rolled over and stared at the wall, her thoughts were scrambled. Screaming. White noise. Except for three words.

_You killed Jesse._

_You killed Jesse._

_You killed Jesse._

"Your hand's bleeding again," she heard Chloe say as the bed dipped behind her. She hadn't heard the door open, or noticed that Aubrey had stopped crying.

"It's fine," Beca said.

"It's not." Chloe took her hand and unravelled the bandage. "Do we need to go to the hospital?"

"No," Beca said, her voice wavering slightly. She cleared her throat. "It'll stop." She felt Chloe wrap it tightly again before kissing her knuckles.

"Do you want something to eat?" She asked, lying down beside her, wrapping her arms around her waist. Beca shook her head. "This is going to be really rough, you know?" Beca nodded. "But I'm going to be here through it all. I'm going to be here for you and 'Bree and I'm not going anywhere." Beca didn't speak, but she rested her hand on top of Chloe's and squeezed it. Chloe took this as a sign that she understood.

Beca stayed in bed for the next two days. She went from sobbing hysterically to being practically catatonic. Chloe spent her time going between Beca and Aubrey, forcing food into them. She was exhausted but she knew it was nothing compared to the pain they were going through.

On the third day, Aubrey got up, dressed and began making arrangements for Jesse's funeral with his parents. In typical Posen fashion, she wasn't going to lie down and accept defeat.

On the third day, Beca called into work and told them she wouldn't be coming back. That she quit.

"Don't make this decision yet, Beca," Gail had said with a sigh. "Just take some time off and really think about it."

"Okay," she said after a pause. She knew she wouldn't change her mind. She wasn't going to risk anymore lives.

"You're an amazing paramedic, Becs," Chloe had said to her once she told her girlfriend her descision. Beca shook her head.

"I can't do it anymore," she said. Chloe dropped the subject.

That evening, Beca forced herself to shower but then immediately returned to her bed, curling up into a ball under the blankets, pressing her palms into her eyes as she fought the tears.

_You killed Jesse._

_You killed Jesse._

_You killed Jesse._

Her muffled sobs turned into full-blown crying. Chloe went to comfort her but was stopped by Aubrey.

"I'll go," she said. Neither girl had really spoken to each other since it happened and she thought it was time she fixed that. "Beca," she said softly as she entered the room. After a few seconds of silence, the blankets shifted and Beca emerged. She looked smaller than Aubrey had ever seen her. Her eyes were red.

"I'm so sorry Aubrey," she said, her voice barely a whisper. Aubrey sat on the bed beside her.

"What on Earth have you got to be sorry for?" She asked.

"It's... I killed him. It's my fault," she said.

"He died because a building collapsed on him," Aubrey said, her voice catching slightly. "You didn't cause that building to fall down."

"He was in there because that new kid ran in and he went after her. If it wasn't for me, she wouldn't have went in and he wouldn't have followed her," Beca said, clenching her cut and bruised hand, trying to focus on the pain so she wouldn't start crying again. "She went in there because she wanted to be like me."

"What would Jesse say if he heard you talking like this?" Aubrey asked.

"He'd call me a fucking idiot and tell me to shut up," Beca said.

"Maybe you should listen to him," Aubrey said, hesitantly brushing the hair from Beca's face. She was never very good at the whole comforting thing. That was more Chloe's area of expertise. Beca smiled slightly before her face fell again.

"I miss him," she said.

"I know," Aubrey replied. "I miss him too. I know I've known him a lot less than you have but... But I really loved him."

"He loved you too," Beca replied. "He never shut up about you, it was actually kind of annoying." Aubrey laughed.

"He'd asked me to move in with him," she said. She started crying again. "This really sucks," she said, her voice breaking.

"Yeah," Beca said, finding it impossible to stop her own tears, "it does."

* * *

><p>A week later and it was Jesse's funeral. Aubrey came into her own again as she took charge of everything from organising what music should be played when and who should do readings. Beca attempted to read a speech from one of Jesse's favourite movies but couldn't get through the first line.<p>

"I'm sorry," she said, putting the paper down. "But I can't do this." She wanted to say something, anything, to let his friends and family know how much he meant to her and how sorry she was that she had caused this. She thought she could see the accusations in their eyes.

_You killed Jesse._

_You killed Jesse._

_You killed Jesse._

"He... He was my best friend," she said, her voice shaking. "He was like a brother. And I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry." She dissolved into sobs and was taken back to her seat where Chloe put an arm around her shoulder and held her tightly as she cried.

When the time came for his cremation, Don't You Forget About Me by Simple Minds played.

"This was his favourite movie, right? And his favourite song?" Aubrey asked Beca as they stood together, watching his coffin move through the curtains. Beca nodded and reached down and took her hand. After the coffin had gone, Beca was approached by Jesse's parents. Both of them hugged her tightly. She then hugged his younger sister, whose face was red and tear streaked. She had begged her parents to let her come because she had to say goodbye to her favourite person in the world. Beca knelt and brushed a strand of the small girl's dark hair out of her eyes. Her eyes that matched Jesse's perfectly.

"You're going to be okay kiddo," Beca said. "Jesse will be keeping an eye on you, I know he will."

"He's keeping an eye on you too," she said.

"He always did."


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: Bit of a short filler chapter this time I'm afraid. I wanted to get something out but things in my real life were a bit crazy tonight so I could only manage something small.**

**In other news, chapter 21 makes this my longest fic yet! (Chapter wise, not word count I don't think). Plus I made a tumblr for this account, just search ****massivedrickhead to find me!**

**I do not own Pitch Perfect or any of its characters.**

* * *

><p>A few days after the funeral, Aubrey decided to go home and spend some time with her parents. Being in Barden was just too painful for her.<p>

Meanwhile, Beca just seemed to get worse and worse. Chloe watched her fall apart in front of her and tried everything she could to keep her together.

For the first week or so, Beca didn't move from bed. Chloe took a long vacation from work so she could take care of her, but it didn't seem to be making a difference. She would lie and stare at the wall, tears creeping out of her eyes.

Eventually, Beca managed to move from the bed to the desk, where she would sit, huddled under a blanket, and mix music. She would sit there constantly, only moving to use the bathroom. Chloe brought her food which mostly went uneaten, and would half carry her to bed when she fell asleep at her laptop.

One afternoon she placed a sandwich beside the brunette who was facing her 27th hour in front of the computer without sleeping. Her hands shook slightly as she moved them across the keyboard and trackpad.

"Becs," Chloe said, touching her arm slightly. Beca jumped before removing the headphones away from one of her ears. "I'm going to physio, okay? I'll be back in a couple of hours. Please try and eat this."

"Do you need me to drive you?" Beca asked, tearing her eyes away from the screen. This was the most she'd spoken in days and her voice croaked slightly.

"No, it's okay, I've called a cab," she said, kissing the top of her head.

"Okay," Beca said, returning her eyes to the computer and replacing the headphones.

"Love you," Chloe said, a little sadly as she left.

"Love you too," Beca replied before the door closed.

* * *

><p>"You've been putting yourself through too much strain," her physiotherapist said at the end of her session. Chloe was out of breath and red-faced at the effort of trying to walk without any support from her crutches. She had found the whole thing so much harder than she should have, and the doctor seemed to think it was from not resting enough at home. "I know your girlfriend is having a tough time but you need to think about your own health, not just her."<p>

"The reason we can even have this conversation is because she put me before herself and risked her life to save me. Now she needs me," Chloe said.

"If you keep this up, you could very well end up back in surgery," he said plainly.

Chloe arrived back at the apartment to find Beca asleep at the computer. She smiled when she saw the sandwich had been eaten. She went to help her girlfriend to bed but remembered her doctor's words and stopped herself. She took Beca's headphones off and saved the mix she was working on before closing the laptop.

"Beca, sweetie, come to bed, okay?" Chloe said, brushing the hair from her face.

"In a minute," she mumbled, her head still resting on her folded arms. "I need to finish."

"You can finish it tomorrow," Chloe said.

"Needs to be done tonight..."

"I'm sure it can wait," she said. Beca didn't answer. "Please, Becs. My back is killing, I don't think I can carry you."

"Your back hurts?" Beca said, forcing her eyes open. Chloe nodded.

"At physio they told me I need to rest a bit more. Come and rest with me?" She said.

"Okay," Beca said standing from her chair for the first time in hours. Her legs shook as she stood. "I'm sorry I haven't really been here," she said as lay in bed beside her.

"Don't be silly," Chloe said, lying on her front as the ache from her back hadn't left yet. "You're grieving, Becs. It takes time."

"I just don't want to lose you," she said, running her hand up and down Chloe's back.

"Not going to happen," Chloe said. "Just remember that you can talk to me." Beca was silent for a while before she spoke again.

"Every day I think it's going to hurt less. I think I'm going to wake up feeling a little better, but I don't. It still feels like I'm being kicked in the stomach. I'm tired of feeling like this," she said.

"I know, Becs," Chloe said. "And I wish I could tell you when it will get better, but I can't. Just know that eventually it will. I mean, I think it will always hurt. But one day, it'll be bearable."

"And will the guilt be bearable?" She asked, her voice a touch quieter.

"You've nothing to feel guilty for," Chloe said. "What happened was in no way your fault. And if he could tell you, I know Jesse would say the same thing." Beca didn't speak but allowed the tears to fall rapidly. Chloe changed her position so she could wrap her arms around her. "It's okay," she said softly. "It's okay."

"I miss him so much," she said, clinging to Chloe.

"I know you do," Chloe said. "But you're going to get through this, I promise."

"It's too hard, Chlo'. It's just too hard."


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: I do not own Pitch Perfect or any of its characters**

* * *

><p>A few days later, Beca got a phone call from Gail asking her to meet for coffee. Beca didn't really want to. She didn't like leaving the house, especially without Chloe. But the redhead had to go for physio so, after some persuasion, Beca agreed to meet Gail at the hospital cafeteria.<p>

"Beca," she said, smiling when she saw her come in. "How are you?"

"Okay," Beca said, not bothering to force a smile. Gail took in her appearance. She had lost weight and there were some serious bags under her eyes. "How about you?"

"It's been rough," Gail said. "The team have really missed him and he was a good paramedic." She paused. "We miss you too, Beca."

"So that's why you wanted to meet," Beca said. "You want to know if I'm coming back."

"I wanted to make sure you were doing okay," Gail said.

"I'm doing great," Beca replied, an edge to her voice.

"When was the last time you ate a full meal? Or slept for a normal amount of time?" Gail said.

"Define normal?" Beca said, not sure why she was getting so worked up.

"I don't know, less than twelve but more than four?" Gail replied, a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"I don't remember," Beca said after a pause.

"We want you to come back to work," Gail said. "I want you to come back to work."

"Gail-"

"Obviously you aren't ready yet. I mean, trying to save lives when you aren't sleeping or eating makes you a bit of liability," she said, "and I would recommend you consider therapy."

"I'm not going to see a shrink," Beca said, interrupting. "I can talk to Chloe about this stuff, I don't need to see a stranger."

"But do you talk to Chloe?" Gail asked. She could see Beca chewing her cheek as she thought. She nodded.

"I can't come back to work," Beca said, breaking the silence. "I can't be the same kind of paramedic I was, and that means I'll have to stand back while people die. No one else is going to die because of me." She stood up.

"Beca."

"Sorry Gail. I'm not coming back."

Beca went and sat in the car, waiting for Chloe to finish. She watched plenty of doctors and nurses walk in and out of the hospital. She knew pretty much all of them and they all knew Jesse. She was jealous of their ability to carry on functioning. Jealous that they weren't racked with pain and guilt like she was.

"Hey," Chloe said as she climbed into the car. Beca hadn't noticed her walking towards her and jumped slightly. Chloe giggled lightly at her and Beca couldn't help but smile too. "How did it go?"

"She wants me to come back to work," Beca said, starting the car and pulling out of the parking lot. "When I'm better."

"And what did you say?" Chloe asked, already suspecting the answer.

"I said no thank you. In fact, I didn't even say thank you. Just no," she said, her hands tensing on the wheel slightly. There were still some faint scars on her left hand from where she had cut it all those weeks ago. They usually weren't visible on her pale skin but they shone out as she clenched the wheel.

"And you're sure about this?" Chloe asked.

"Are you going to try and talk me round too?" Beca asked.

"No," Chloe said, softly. "I totally understand why you can't go back there. I just want to make sure you've made the right decision."

"Sorry," she said, her brow furrowing. "I didn't mean to snap at you."

"I know you didn't," Chloe said, placing a hand on her knee. "Don't apologise. Have you thought about what you might want to do instead?" Beca hesitated.

"I dunno yet," she said, unconvincingly. Chloe decided not to push her. When they arrived at the apartment and got out of the car, Beca noticed Chloe was carrying her crutches, rather than using them. She was walking slower than usual but she was still walking un-aided. "Chlo'," she said, shocked, "you're... You're like walking by yourself!" Chloe grinned at her. "This is amazing!" Beca felt something bubble up in her that she hadn't felt in a while. Happiness. Proper happiness. "You're amazing."

"It's just walking, Becs," Chloe said, smiling as Beca pulled her into a kiss.

"You're walking up a storm," she said grinning into the kiss. "It's awesome."

"Can we go inside? Or are we just going to stand here, kissing like a couple of weirdos?" Chloe said.

"We should go inside," Beca said, still smiling.

That night they sat on the sofa, cuddled up to each other as they watched a movie. It was 'The Breakfast Club', Jesse's favourite. As the final scene played out, tears fell freely from both of them. But this time, she didn't feel crushed by the sadness. In fact, the crying seemed to have almost the opposite effect. As she shed each tear she felt the tension in her chest begin to loosen.

It reminded her of how she felt the first time she heard her mom's favourite song after she died. She had cried as soon as she heard the first notes but she also smiled. She remembered the joy the song used to bring her and at that moment she'd stopped associating her mother with the woman who died, bleeding out in a car. She remembered her as the music loving, warm, giving and funny person she was. She remembered the person, not the death.

The same thing was happening to her now, almost a month and a half after his death. She began remembering his almost goofy smile and the way he was obsessed with movie soundtracks. She remembered the way he grinned at her with an almost child-like enthusiasm on their first shift together and the hurt-puppy look he gave her when she turned down his offer for a date.

She knew she'd always carry the guilt and the pain of his loss, the same way she carried the pain of her mom's loss, but now she didn't think she'd be consumed by it. She knew she wouldn't have to return to the stress of her job that she used to thrive on but now knew would crush her. She knew she had Chloe by her side.

"What are you thinking about?" Chloe asked, sweeping the tears from Beca's cheek.

"That I might be okay," she said, closing her eyes and holding Chloe even tighter.

"I know you are," Chloe said, kissing her head. "Earlier when I asked if you had a plan for what you wanted to do, you didn't tell me the truth, did you?"

"No," Beca said after a couple of seconds of thought. "I was thinking that maybe I would do something with music. Like," she paused, "music therapy or something. I still want to help people, and being able to mix music really helped me this past couple of weeks. It might sound dumb but I could like, teach people the basics so they have something to focus on, some kind of outlet, you know? It's probably a stupid idea."

"Beca, that's amazing!" Chloe said, astounded that her girlfriend had even been considering this. "This is totally what you should do!"

"You think?" Beca asked, grinning.

"Absolutely," Chloe said. "I'm so proud of you." Chloe kissed her and Beca felt something stirring in her chest that she hadn't felt since before Jesse died. They broke apart and Beca swore Chloe's eyes had gotten several shades darker. She swallowed slightly. "Okay?" Chloe asked, nervously. Beca nodded, her eyes drifting down to Chloe's lips. As she went to lean in her phone began vibrating on the table.

"God fucking dammit," she said before answering. "Hello?"

"Beca? It's Haley," a voice said on the other end.

"Haley? What's going on?" Beca asked.

"I'm just... I dunno... My head's gone a bit, you know?" Haley said, her voice shaking. "I don't know why I called you. Sorry."

"Don't be sorry," Beca said, worried now. "Where are you?" She could hear the wind in the background.

"I don't know," Haley said. "Some bridge."


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: I do not own Pitch Perfect or any of its characters.**

* * *

><p><em><strong>"What time is it?" Jesse said, glancing across the ambulance to look at Beca. She was staring at her watch, a grin spreading across her face.<strong>_

_**"8:59pm," she said. "We officially have 30 seconds left of our first shift."**_

_**"I trust you're both coming for a celebratory drink?" Gail asked from in between them.**_

_**"I'm in," Jesse said, stopping at traffic lights.**_

_**"Beca?" Gail asked.**_

_**"Sure," she said, distracted as she looked out of the window. She was looking up at an apartment building. "Jess, stop the ambulance."**_

_**"What? No, we're finished. I'm taking this back and we're going for a beer," he said.**_

_**"Stop the fucking ambulance, there's someone about to jump from the roof of that building," Beca said. As soon as Jesse brought them to a stop, Beca was out of the vehicle and running to the building. She could make out a small figure, perched on the edge. She heard Gail calling the police as she tried to see a way of getting up. She saw a fire-escape that climbed the whole height of the building and onto the roof, and made a run for it.**_

_**"Mitchell!" Gail called after her. "Get back here now!"**_

_**Beca ignored her and was soon pulling herself up a ladder to a landing. From there she ran up the stairs, the metal clanging beneath her feet and echoing around her. A small crowd had gathered now as police cars began pulling up.**_

_**When she finally made it to the roof, she had to take a minute to get her breath back. Her legs threatened to turn to jelly as she gripped the railing. When she looked up she saw that the small figure perched on the edge was now staring at her, frozen in fear. Beca saw that it was a girl. Probably no older than eighteen.**_

_**"Don't come any closer!" She said, inching impossibly closer to the edge.**_

_**"Okay!" Beca said, holding her hands up and stepping back. "Okay, I'll stay over here." Her head began spinning. "Holy shit, this is high. Wow. Shit."**_

_**"Why would you have a job talking down people threatening to jump if you're scared of heights?" The girl asked, her confusion distracting her.**_

_**"That's not actually my job," Beca said, laughing a little nervously. "I'm a paramedic. And it's my first day and I'm actually just going to sit down because it's too fucking high." Beca sat down on the roof, feeling slightly better about the height.**_

_**"What are you doing up here?" The girl asked.**_

_**"I could ask you the same," Beca said, scooting herself subtly closer. "What's your name?"**_

_**"Haley," she said, almost reluctantly.**_

_**"I'm Beca," Beca said. "What are you doing up here Haley?"**_

_**"Isn't it obvious?" Haley said.**_

_**"Yeah, I guess it is. Sorry, I don't really know what I'm doing," Beca said. She had inched herself close enough that her legs could dangle over the edge. "Sit down."**_

_**"I don't want to," Haley said, her voice shaking.**_

_**"I know," Beca said. "But just sit down for a bit. You can stand up again later if you want." Reluctantly, Haley lowered herself down. Beca resisted the urge to grab and pull her away from the edge. "What's going on with you?"**_

_**"Nothing," she said. "I'm just... not happy."**_

_**"You ever thought about talking to anyone about it?" Beca asked.**_

_**"What would I say? There's nothing wrong with me. Literally, nothing bad has ever happened to me, yet every morning I wake up and I'm miserable and I don't know why. I'm sick of it," she said, tears welling in her eyes. "I want out."**_

_**"That's called depression," Beca said, hesitantly taking her hand. "Just because you've never had anything bad happen to you, doesn't make you immune from it. It's a disease. Like, people who've never smoked a cigarette can still get lung cancer. People who've eaten healthy their entire lives can still have a heart attack. Diseases don't discriminate and depression is no exception." Haley was silent as she thought about this new information.**_

_**"I don't want to do the therapy thing. I don't want to take meds. I don't want to have to look at my parents and tell them I'm unhappy," she said, shifting her position so she was sitting further on the edge.**_

_**"So you think it'll be easier for them to get a phone call in the middle of the night? That they'll have to hear some doctor or cop say that their daughter's killed herself? It'll destroy them," Beca said, her grip on Haley's hand tightening.**_

_**"They'll get over it," Haley said.**_

_**"No, they won't. Eventually they'll be able to get through a day without crying, but they won't get over it," Beca said, her voice breaking slightly. Haley looked at her. "My Mom died when I was fourteen. Losing someone you love that much... It's not something you get over."**_

_**"I'm sorry," Haley said, turning back to face the view. A considerable crowd had gathered now. The flashing lights of the police cars were growing brighter as more joined.**_

_**"Why don't we go down?" Beca asked.**_

_**"Then what'll happen?" She asked.**_

_**"You'll get help," Beca said. Haley was quiet for what felt like a long time until she eventually nodded.**_

_**"Okay," she said.**_

The memory rushed through Beca as she drove to where she assumed Haley was. Chloe was sitting beside. She arrived at the bridge she had found Haley at the night Jesse died and spotted the girl in the same place, drinking from a bottle of vodka. Beca got out of the car and made her way over to her.

"Hey," Beca said, resting her arms on the bridge. "What's going on?"

"It was my first day back at work today," Haley said, swallowing a decent amount of vodka. "I just... I lost it. My head is like..." She trailed off, drinking again.

"It's understandable," Chloe said from Haley's other side.

"Totally," Beca agreed. "On my first day back after Maisy died, I had a panic attack and a guy nearly bled to death."

"Jesse told me about that," she said. "He also gave me your number and said I should call you at 3am because it would piss you off and be funny." She laughed before her face creased slightly and she started crying.

"Come on, we'll take you home," Chloe said, placing a hand on her back. Haley shook her head.

"My room-mates are all out of town. I don't want to go back there," she said.

"Then you can come to our place," Beca said, looking at Chloe who nodded.

"You don't have to do that," Haley said. "You don't have to be so nice to me."

"Why wouldn't we be nice to you?" Beca asked, trying to steer the girl away from the bridge and towards the car.

"Because I killed Jesse," she said. Beca sighed.

"No, you didn't," Beca said. "And neither did I. Nobody did."

"But-"

"Enough," Beca said. "Come on."

After they'd gotten her back to the apartment, she was so exhausted that they just put her into Aubrey's bed and let her sleep off the large amount of vodka she'd consumed.

In the middle of the night, Beca woke up when she heard noise coming from the living room. She eased herself from Chloe's arms and made her way out of the bedroom.

"Can't sleep?" She said when she saw Haley sitting on the couch. She shook her head.

"My head won't... It won't shut up," she said. "I can't stop thinking."

"Wait here," Beca said. She snuck back into the bedroom and returned with her laptop, setting it down in front of Haley. She slowly and calmly began explaining to Haley how to mix tracks together, showing her just enough of the basics so she could start mixing her first track. Beca watched as the tension seemed to leave her as she worked. "You're going to be okay, you know?" She said after almost an hour of watching her.

"I know," Haley said, after a small silence. "Thank you. You've saved my life twice now."

"Were you going to... you know, tonight?" Beca asked, shocked.

"I don't know," Haley replied, honestly. "It was definitely on my mind."

"Shit, I'm sorry Haley," Beca said, her head dropping into her hands. "I should have checked up on you this past couple of months. I've been too wrapped up in myself lately."

"Don't be stupid," Haley replied, smiling for the first time all night.

"I promise I'll be here for you from now on," Beca said. "If you ever need anything, just call and I'll do my best to help, okay?"

"Okay," Haley said. "Thank you."


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N: Here's the latest chapter! We're at the tail end of this fic now, probably only a couple more chapters after this :(**

**Thank you for all the support so far, I love you all!**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Five Years Later<strong>_

Beca and Chloe were driving down route 180, music blasting from their stereo. Beca's music.

They were driving back from a gig put on by a kid who had taken Beca's Music Therapy class a year ago, and was now on the brink of releasing his first single.

It had taken Beca a few months to get her class up and running. First she had to take a course in basic counselling and then, with Chloe's help, she began seeing small groups of people. At first just showing them the basics on a mixing program, and then encouraging them to talk about what was going on. Chloe would sit in on sessions sometimes, offering advice to Beca on how to deal with certain situations.

Beca was happy. Properly happy.

She had a job that didn't cause her stress and daily panic attacks. A job that she loved doing.

She had a wife of two years in Chloe and, after a solid year of trying, Chloe was eight months pregnant.

Chloe had also never been happier. Her difficulty in walking had become a thing of the past and her job was as great as it ever was. She also now had the added bonus of being able to recommend that certain students she counselled looked in to taking Beca's class.

"Babe?" Chloe asked, her hand resting on Beca's thigh as she drove.

"What?" Beca said, smirking as she knew wife wanted something.

"Me and this little peanut are hungry," she said, her other hand resting on her stomach.

"Oh yeah?" Beca asked, still grinning. "Well I think we have some salad in the house. I'm sure I can fix you something when we get home."

"Beca don't make me hurt you," Chloe replied.

"There's a Taco Bell on the way home," Beca said, reaching over to place her free hand on Chloe's stomach. "How does that sound peanut?" As if in response, the baby kicked.

"I knew I married you for a reason," Chloe said, kissing the back of her hand before putting it back on the wheel.

"And my dashing good looks, yes?" Beca said, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course. You're so dashing, babe," Chloe said, half rolling her eyes. She focused her attention on the car in front of them. It was weaving slightly, back and forth across the road.

"Gotta love a drunk driver," Beca muttered as her hands gripped the wheel a little tighter. Chloe put her hand on Beca's thigh and gave it a squeeze. Like most, Beca had a zero-tolerance approach to drunk drivers, given that her mother was killed because of one. Beca flicked on her indicator in order to overtake the car. At the same time that she pulled out, the car in front lost control and skidded across the lanes of traffic. Beca barely had time to slam on the brakes before they collided. The car behind them ploughed into the back of them and sent them careering off the road and into ditch. Chloe's scream mixed with the sound of grinding, crunching metal was the last thing Beca heard before her head hit the steering wheel.

Red and blue flashing lights brought Beca round. She forced her eyes open, struggling to focus as darkness kept creeping around the edge of her vision. She couldn't hear anything other than a high-pitched note, ringing in her ears. Her eyes found the cracked rear-view mirror and she saw, sitting on the back seat, a little girl, half of her face was seriously burned. It was Maisy and she was smiling. Next to her was a woman, a patch of blood spreading from her abdomen. It was Beca's Mom.

"Hi sweetie," she said. Beca tried to say something but all that came out was a mumbled groan. Someone opened the door on her side of the car and began cutting at her seatbelt. It was Jesse, his face pale with a single bruise on his temple. In the end, that's all it had taken to kill him.

"Don't worry about a thing, Becs," he said, his face breaking out into his goofy grin. "We've got you."

"Chloe..." Beca managed to say.

"I'm here baby," Chloe said from her other side. Beca turned her head and suddenly all the sound came back, as if someone had just flipped a switch. The figures in the back seat were gone and she saw that it wasn't Jesse cutting her out, it was Gail. Beca looked back to Chloe and saw that she seemed remarkably unhurt, except for a slowly growing patch of red on the crotch of her jeans.

"No," Beca groaned, trying to lift her arm to take Chloe's hand. She was pulled from the car before she had a chance to do it. Gail carried her away from the crumpled heap of her car and towards one of the waiting ambulances. "What are you doing?!" Beca yelled struggling so much that she fell from Gail's arms and hit the ground with a thud. "Why didn't you get her out first?!" She ran back towards the car, pain radiating from every possible location on her body. Her vision hampered by a stream of blood that flowed from a cut above her eye.

"Beca!" Gail yelled, throwing an arm around Beca's waist and holding her back.

"Let me go!" Beca yelled just as loud. "You should have gotten her out first!" She kicked against Gail but the blonde wouldn't let her go.

"Calm down," Gail said, struggling now to keep hold of her.

"Why is she still fucking in there?!" Beca shouted.

"Haley, I need help!" A second later and Haley was at their side, a needle in her hand.

"Sorry Beca," she said. Beca felt a scratch in her hip as Haley injected the contents of the syringe into her.

"Get my wife out of there," Beca said, the energy draining from her in seconds.

"It's okay, Beca. You're okay," Gail said as she carefully lowered her onto the ground as she became a dead weight in her arms.

"I don't care about me," she said, weakly, her voice trailing off. "I care about her." The last thing she saw was Haley forcing herself into the car before she finally passed out.


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N: Thank you all for the amazing response I've had for the last chapter! I'm sorry it took so long to update but work makes me so tired that I never have the energy to do anything other than eat and sleep when I get home :P**

**Anyway, the chapter after this will probably be the last one.**

**I do not own Pitch Perfect or any of its characters**

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><p>"Breaking news just in, a three car pile up on the infamous route 180 has cost at least one individual their life, while two others were hospitalised. Traffic has been diverted, stay tuned for more inf-" Aubrey turned the radio in her car off. Her hands shook on the steering wheel as tears cascaded down her cheeks. <em>How could this have happened?<em> She thought as she sped to the hospital. She had never met two people more unlucky when it came to accidents and injuries. Except maybe, Jesse. She felt a pang in her chest as the memory of him surfaced. She shook her head slightly. She couldn't think about him right now. She had to get to the hospital. She prayed that the person who had died wasn't Chloe or Beca, before feeling a rush of guilt that she was wishing the misery of loss onto someone else.

"Aubrey Posen, I'm here to see Beca and Chloe Mitchell," Aubrey said once she arrived at the hospital.

"Aubrey?" Aubrey whipped around and saw Gail and Haley sitting in the uncomfortable hospital plastic chairs. B oth looked exhausted, miserable and worried.

"What happened?" She asked, too scared to voice the question that had been welling up inside her.

_**"Multiple ambulances needed at the south end of route 180. Three car pile up. Fire-crew have been called and police are on the scene. Units respond," the dispatch voice said through the radio.**_

_**"Unit 260 responding," Gail said before flicking her sirens on and putting her foot down. "I'll take the car in the ditch, you take the red one," she said once they arrived at the scene. The third car was relatively unscathed, both driver and passenger were unhurt, and standing by their car.**_

_**"It was that other car's fault," one of them said as Gail quickly checked them over. "The red one. They were swerving all over the road." Gail made her way to the battered car in the ditch. Her heart seemed to stop as she saw who the passengers were. Chloe was frantically calling Beca's name but the brunette wasn't responding. Beca was barely conscious and her eyes seemed to be fixed on the rear-view mirror.**_

_**"Chloe, are you hurt?" Gail asked before her eyes fell on her bloodied jeans. "Shit," she said softly.**_

_**"Just get Beca out," Chloe said, her eyes full of tears. "Please."**_

_**"Mom," Beca mumbled. Gail shot Chloe a worried look which the redhead returned. Gail took the knife from her pocket and began cutting away at Beca's seatbelt.**_

_**"Don't worry about a thing, Mitchell," she said, trying her best not to cry. "We've got you."**_

_**"Chloe..." Beca groaned.**_

_**"I'm here baby," Chloe said, trying to keep it together. She watched as Beca's eyes drifted down to her jeans and saw them fill with devastation.**_

_**"No," she said, attempting to lift her hand. Gail hooked an arm under her legs and around her back before pulling her from the car.**_

_**It took Beca a few seconds to respond and then her strength seemed to come from nowhere. She was struggling and fighting and trying run towards the car, screaming at Gail for getting her out first. Gail couldn't quite believe it. Beca shouldn't be able to walk let alone run.**_

_**Haley couldn't stand the look of pain in Beca's eyes as she sedated her. The fact that they had rescued her before Chloe was, in Beca's eyes, the biggest form of betrayal.**_

_**"Haley," Gail said, a warning tone that used to fill her voice whenever Beca got the same look in her eyes that Haley had now. She slowly lowered Beca to the ground, the brunette whimpering and sobbing as she lost consciousness. "What about the other driver?"**_

_**"He's dead," Haley said.**_

_**"Get my wife out of there," Beca said. Haley took off running before her eyes finally closed.**_

_**"Haley!" Gail called, fruitlessly. "God damn you, Mitchell, why is it always you?" She lifted her up again before carefully lying her on a stretcher and watched as she was whisked off to hospital.**_

_**"Don't worry Chloe, we're going to get you out," Haley said as she forced her way into the car.**_

_**"Is she okay?" Chloe asked, looking tired and terrified all at once.**_

_**"We... I had to sedate her. She was fighting us for not getting you out first. But from the way she was fighting, she doesn't seem to be seriously injured," Haley said. Chloe let out a shaky sigh of relief.**_

_**"Did I ever tell you how we met?" Chloe said, trying to distract herself from the pain and fear that was gripping her. Haley shook her head as she watched the fireman begin to cut the steel of the car from around Chloe. Chloe squeezed her eyes shut, her voice shaking as she told the story. "It's funny," she said, "that it was an injury that brought us together. Pretty fitting really." There was a heavy clunk beside them as the door finally came free and Chloe was helped out of the car, blood still spreading down her legs. "I can't lose this baby," she said as she was lifted onto a stretcher. "If it comes down to saving me or the baby, you chose the baby, understand? No matter what Beca says."**_

Once Haley and Gail had finished talking, Aubrey took a seat beside them, her head in her hands.

"Where are they now?" She asked.

"Beca's sleeping off her sedative and Chloe's in surgery," Gail said.

"And... and the baby?" Aubrey asked, afraid of the answer.

"No news yet," Haley said.

"Why aren't you in there with Beca?" Aubrey said.

"Stacie's in there with her," Haley replied. "She told us to wait here for news."

"You should go see her," Gail said. "She probably won't be mad at you. We promise as soon as we hear anything-" Gail was cut off by shouts coming from a near-by room. It was unmistakably Beca's voice. All three women jumped up and ran to the source of the commotion.

"Where is she?!" Beca screamed, pulling out the IV from her arm and attempting climbing from the bed.

"Beca, you've got severe concussion and cracked ribs, you need to be in bed," Stacie said, trying to stop her from moving.

"What I need is to be with my wife and kid," Beca replied, her feet hitting the ground. She tried to take a step but her legs buckled underneath her. She was caught by Gail but Beca pushed the blonde away. "You got me out first!"

"Beca, you were in a really bad way," Gail said, trying to get her back into bed. "Chloe asked me to get you out and I did. You were in a worse condition."

"You don't seem to understand that I don't care! I don't care what happens to me, I care about what happens to her and about what happens to our child."

"Beca Mitchell!" Aubrey snapped. "Get back in that bed this second, or I'll make them strap you to it." Beca stopped struggling but still didn't move back into the bed. "You might not care what happens to you, but we do. And Chloe does and when she wakes up, she's going to need you, and you won't be much help if you don't get better, will you? Now," she paused, collecting herself, trying not to stress vomit on them all, "will you please get back into bed? For Chloe's sake?" reluctantly, Beca allowed them to help her into bed and to reattach her IV.

"Can someone find out what's happening? Please?" Beca said in a much quieter voice.

"I'll go," Gail said, pulling Haley along with her. They returned after a few minutes. "No news," she said, sitting down in one of the seats Stacie had brought in for them all. "But they said they'd come in here when they have news."

After an hour of agonising silence, a doctor walked in, a splash of blood up his scrubs.

"Ms Mitchell?" He asked, looking around the room.

"Yes?" Beca replied, sitting up, wincing as she did.

"Your wife broke several bones along her right leg and damaged her pelvis in the accident. Also, the baby was in a difficult position and she lost a lot of blood while we delivered him," he said.

"Him?" Beca asked, her eyes full of tears. "He's a boy?" The doctor smiled slightly.

"Yes," he said. "And he and your wife are going to be just fine."

Beca was sitting in a chair beside Chloe's bed once she was finally allowed out of her own. Her son was sleeping peacefully in her arms. Despite everything, he was strong and healthy. The tiny wisps of hair he had were a light ginger and his eyes were a shocking blue.

"Hey buddy," Beca whispered, tears in her eyes. "I love you so much. And I'm going to keep you and Mommy safe forever, I promise." She looked at Chloe, who was still sleeping. "Chlo', you gotta wake up and meet this little guy."

But it wasn't until hours later that Chloe did finally wake up. She saw Beca sleeping in the hospital bed beside her, having refused to move from Chloe's side, and her son sleeping in the tiny cot between them. She saw Beca wake up and silently climb out of bed, grimacing slightly as she did. The brunette hobbled over to the cot and then breathed out a sigh of relief when she saw her son was still breathing.

"Hey Becs," Chloe said, her voice hoarse. She reached out and Beca immediately took her hand.

"Hey baby," Beca said, kissing it. "I was just checking on him."

"Him?" Chloe asked, squeezing her hand.

"We have a son," Beca said, kissing her properly. Despite Beca's objections, Chloe managed to persuade her to climb into her bed with her. "If I hurt you, tell me," she said as Chloe wrapped her up in her arms. "You scared me," she said, closing her eyes.

"You scared me more. How are you feeling?" Chloe asked.

"Never better," Beca said, smiling. "You?" She asked when they broke apart.

"Tired, but happy," Chloe said. "By the way, our boy needs a name."

"I know," Beca said. "We never did decide on a boy's name. Which was your favourite again? Charlie? He looks like a Charlie, don't you think?"

"Yeah," Chloe said, smiling. "Charlie Jesse Mitchell."

"Perfect."


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N: So here's the final chapter! I'm always sad when a fic comes to an end and this one is no exception. **

**Thank you to every reviewer, reader, follower and favouriter. You guys are amazing and awesome and I love you and I love this fandom.**

**I do not own Pitch Perfect or any of its characters**

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><p><em><strong>Two Years Later<strong>_

"Can you say Moma?" Beca asked the two-year-old boy sitting on the floor across from her.

"No," he said, rolling a ball across to her.

"Can you say Mommy?" She asked, rolling it back.

"No," he said before giggling and rolling it back.

"Can you say... Charlie?"

"Uhhhh... No," he said, giggling even harder.

"Yes you can!" Beca said, laughing.

"No," he said. He was laughing so hard he could barely get the word out.

"What's so funny?" Chloe said walking into the room.

"Charlie learned a new word, didn't you Charlie?" Beca said, grinning.

"No!" He replied before rolling on his back, giggling like he'd just told the funniest joke in the world. Chloe laughed and sat on the sofa behind Beca, kissing her on the head and wrapping her arms around her shoulders. Charlie eventually stopped giggling and crawled over so he could sit in Beca's lap. She ruffled the dark ginger hair on his head.

"Dinner's ready," Chloe said before kissing Beca on the head again.

"Come on, buddy," Beca said lifting him up in the air as he screeched and giggled. She sat him down in his high-chair and every so often helped him with his fork. He liked feeding himself but struggled to get the food to stay on the fork.

"You gonna eat up all the vegetables that Mommy made you?" Beca asked him as he stabbed his green-beans eagerly.

"No," he said before shoving them in his mouth. "Moma help."

"You can do it," Beca said guiding his hands so he could scoop up his peas. "See? Good job." Chloe watched them with the biggest grin on her face.

After Chloe had given birth, Beca had made the decision to take a break from doing her music therapy class so she could look after Charlie and help Chloe recover from the accident. She liked being home with them so much that she changed her schedule so she did one music therapy class a week on a Wednesday afternoon, which was the day Chloe had off. Chloe had been secretly worried that because they weren't biologically related, Charlie and Beca would struggle to bond, but now she saw her fears had been ridiculous. They quite simply adored each other and they adored her and she them.

"Mommy's got that silly look on her face again," Beca said, finally finishing her own dinner now Charlie had finished his. Charlie giggled.

"You want some ice cream?" Chloe said, smiling as she broke out of her thoughts. He nodded enthusiastically.

"Chocolate," he said.

"Chocolate what?" Beca asked.

"Chocolate peas?" He asked, tilting his head. Beca and Chloe couldn't help but laugh.

"It's 'please' but that's close enough, buddy," Beca said ruffling his hair.

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><p>Beca was woken up that night by the sound of Charlie talking softly from his room. It was mostly just gibberish. Charlie had spoken in his sleep a couple of times so Beca settled back into Chloe's arms and was almost asleep when she heard him speak again. This time he said a name before giggling to himself.<p>

"Jesse!"

Beca was out of bed and into his room faster than she'd moved in years. Charlie was sitting up in his crib and laughing at something Beca couldn't see. She swallowed her fear and crouched by him. She felt Chloe stand behind her.

"Hey buddy, who are you talking to?" Beca said, trying to sound calm.

"Jesse," he said again. She heard Chloe gasp behind her.

"Who's Jesse?" Beca asked, tears stinging her eyes.

"Your friend," he said. He pointed through the gaps in his crib to a space directly in front of him.

"And he's here right now?" Chloe asked, sensing Beca couldn't talk. Charlie nodded and then giggled again.

"He's silly," he said.

"Is he always here?" Chloe asked. He shook his head.

"No," he said.

"And do you see anyone else?" Chloe asked, her grip on Beca's shoulder tightening.

"Grandma," he said, pointing to the corner of the room. Beca choked out a small sob. He furrowed his brow. "Moma," he said, reaching out for Beca. Chloe picked him up from the crib and crouched down with him so she was sitting by Beca. He climbed onto Beca's lap and kissed her cheeks. "Moma sad?"

"No buddy," Beca said, hugging him. "I'm not sad." Chloe put her arm around Beca and held her family close to her.

"S'okay Moma," Charlie said. "Gone now."

"Do they say what they want Charlie?" Chloe asked. She knew most kids had imaginary friends, but the fact that Charlie's seemed to be dead people linked with Beca was freaking her out. There was no way he could have known about Jesse or Beca's mom.

"Look out for us," he said, still confused at why his mom was upset. "Mommy I'm sleepy."

"Okay, sweetie," Chloe said. She took him from Beca's arms who seemed to have shut down. "You go to sleep now, we'll see you in the morning. Love you."

"Love you," he said, yawning as Chloe put him back in his crib.

"Beca," Chloe said softly, pulling her to her feet. "Come on, baby." She led the tiny brunette back to their bed and wrapped her up in her arms, waiting for her to be ready to talk.

"I saw them," she said, eventually. "On the day of the accident, when I woke up in the car. I saw my mom and Jesse. I thought it was just the concussion, but maybe... Maybe they're here... Keeping an I on us."

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><p>A few months later, Beca was playing with Charlie in his room.<p>

"Have you seen Jesse or Grandma lately, buddy?" She asked, helping him build his Lego's into a tower. He shook his head.

"Gone now," he said.

"Gone?" Beca asked.

"Said we don't need them. Gone now," he said, sticking his tongue out as he pushed the bricks together.

"Where did they go?" Beca asked. He pointed to the sky. Beca looked up and wondered if they were still watching her. Or even if they had ever been watching her. She didn't know what to believe, but the idea that they had been watching over them was comforting to her. The idea that maybe since she lost her at fourteen, her mother had been there, just keeping watch, though all the stuff that had happened to her. Flunking out of med-school. Becoming a paramedic. The car accident that killed Maisy and caused her months of panic attacks. The building collapse that nearly killed her and Chloe. The loss of Jesse. Marrying Chloe. The accident and then the birth of their son. The idea that she was there for all of that, sometimes with Jesse, was amazing to her.

"Moma, your turn," Charlie said.

"Sorry," she said, smiling at him, before adding her own block to his tower.

She took the fact that they had moved on as a good sign. As sign that she would be okay. That Chloe and Charlie would be okay. That there was nothing left to be afraid of.


End file.
